Hawkeye scaled up the side of a building, with Mockingbird following not far behind. Recently, S.H.I.E.L.D. had received some intel that there was a hidden A.I.M. base lurking in this building. It was up to Hawkeye’s team to neutralize this potential threat. You never know what these mad scientists could be up to that could appear as a threat towards national (or even international) security.

While he pulled himself up the rope on which he was suspended, Hawkeye heard a quiet ring in his earpiece. Who in the world could be calling at this moment? Doesn’t his superiors back at S.H.I.E.L.D. know that he and his team were on a stealth mission and this kind of distraction could be costly? Not only could it distract Hawkeye and his agents, but the A.I.M. scientists could possibly pick up, which would result in their cover being blown. All because of one phone call. Therefore, Hawkeye decided to ignore the ringing in his ear, hoping that it would eventually stop.

However, it did not stop. With each step up the side of the building, that small, annoying noise kept ringing in his ear. Eventually, Hawkeye decided to pause for a moment and make a quick answer to whoever is calling at the moment. While he kept one hand on the rope, Clint clicked his earpiece in order to open up a channel of communication to the caller.

“Can’t talk. Kind of climbing here.” Hawkeye answered the call. He hoped that this would let whoever was calling him know his situation. Unfortunately, the ringing kept coming. This caused Clint to increase his climbing speed so that he could reach the top of the roof and answer this call.

“What’s your problem?” Clint asked once he had reached level ground and had activated his earpiece, “You know that we are on a delicate stealth mission, right? We’re about ready to infiltrate this A.I.M. hive and we don’t need any distractions!”

Before the X-Men team and Spider-Man even attempted to break into the local Brand Corporation factory, Cyclops drew up a plan in order to make sure that this little operation would succeed without any problems. While they could probably use brute force in order to gain access into the factory so that they could free their two friends and allies, such a tactic would be a media fiasco. Having the media labeling this as a mutant terrorist attack would be counter-productive to Professor Xavier’s dream of peace and equality between normal humans and mutants. Instead, they needed to take a more delicate approach.

Normally, the X-Men would have had either Hank toss the X-Men over a barrier or Jean use her telekinetic powers to lift them over the obstacle. However, since neither of them were present, Cyclops needed to improvise. He decided the best way to get past the first wave of security would be to have Spider-Man create weblines that would allow the X-Men to climb over the tall fence that protected the perimeter of the factory’s premise.

Once they were one the factory’s grounds, the small group of superhumans made their way to the factory proper, using the cover of darkness to hide themselves from the guards. Professor Xavier’s telepathic abilities, whose range was increased by Cerebro, also came in handy, making the guards think they saw nothing if they were looking directly at any of his X-Men or Spider-Man Again, when they had reached the factory itself, the X-Men used Spider-Man’s weblines to scale up the building to one of the upper level floors.

“Okay, Professor, we’ve made it into the factory. A little assistance getting past the guards would be nice.” Cyclops, with his voice lowered so that he might not alert any nearby guards, talked into his communicator.

“Don’t worry, Scott. The kidnapers of Angelica and Kurt will not know what has hit them.” Xavier telepathically communicated with this team of X-Men (and Spider-Man).

“I cannot lie, but I don’t think I’ll ever get use to someone talking in my head like that.” Spider-Man whispered. However, Cyclops ignored Peter’s comment about Xavier’s telepathy and began to walk down one of the corridors, following a hand-held, holographic map of the factory’s building plan. After navigating through this labyrinth of a factory, the five men finally arrived on the upper level of an enormous room. The top level, where Spider-Man and the X-Men were, was fenced in by a guardrail. Below them, the perimeter of the room was filled with computers and lab equipment. But in the center was a giant glass cylinder that contained what looked like a green liquid.

“Lead them in here!” A man, who was called Herbert Landon, although this fact was not obvious to the five superhumans hiding above, shouted out while he was entering into the room. Behind Landon followed four men, who themselves were leading both Firestar and Nightcrawler. The two captive X-Men had their arms shackled behind their backs and they had some kind of collar like device that was wrapped around their necks. From there, the men, who seemed to belong to the Maggia, probably Silvermane’s branch, threw the two mutants into individual cages that had a wire attached from the ceiling.

Once Firestar and Nightcrawler had been detained in these cages, these steel prisons began to rise up into the air, at a height just a little bit higher up than the top edge of the giant, glass cylinder. Now Cyclops knew that time was of the essence now. While Scott did not know what that green liquid would do to Angelica or Kurt, he could deduce one thing: it could not be good at all.

“Alright, Quicksilver, I need you to disarm all the guards down there and make sure that if more come that they cannot turn their weapons against us. Spider-Man, Iceman, make sure those cages don’t get to that tank! Colossus, we’re going to need an escape route ASAP! They are going to know that we are here, so there is no need for any more subtlety. I’ll provide support fire from up here.”

Spider-Man leaped from the upper level of the room and shot out a webline. He swung over towards the cage in which Firestar was being held. However, before he landed on the cage, Peter felt his spider-sense buzzing like crazy. At the last second, Peter veered to the side so that he would miss the cage. As he passed the metallic cage, Spider-Man shot a few web pellets at the cage. When the silk struck the cage, it immediately started to sizzle, revealing that something was affecting the metallic prison.

“Hey, guys! I recommend not touching those bars!”

@DrewVonAwesome and @Bright_Ops presents... Loki and Tony Stark!

Tony quietly started to slip into the small craft that was going to take him out, "Hey how are ya? Listen go ahead and take me to Stark Tech HQ in New York." Tony said to the pilot who nodded back to him. "On the way though would it be a deal breaker to go to a place where I can get a burger? I'll totally buy you lunch in exchange." Tony was about to start strapping into a seat when he felt Victoria behind him. She was clearly bothered about what had happened with him and 'MURICA. Tony held up his hands with a bit of a smirk to her. "No no don't sweat it. I'm sure the guy is a nice guy." Tony didn't buy that idea. "Look, even considering what happened I'm still in on the consultant gig. If nothing else because it'll be good for the job, and I think Fury hates me a bit still for the whole no longer making weapons thing." The thought about that made Tony dread the thought of actually meeting Fury. He had met him before when his dad was running things and even when Fury was being nice, he was still intimidating.

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Tony told her finally as she started to leave. With that settled now Tony finally sat down on the seat and put on the seatbelts. "Alright lets get this show on the road." Tony called over to the pilot. "Actually sir," The pilot called back, "I just got the call to wait, someone wanted to see you." Tony groaned at the news, his hands sliding down his face. "Oh God it's not Captain 'Murica is it?"

"Trouble with Captain America?" A familiar voice asked with keen interest from beside Tony from a seat that had been empty until Loki had decided to simply pop in with a playful smile on his face. "Sorry about the delay, I wanted to drop by and make sure you weren't dead and Fury was kind enough to help out with that. How you doing kid?"

Sighing in relief Tony smiled a bit at the sight of a strangely already comforting sight. "Yeah just... seemed like the guy already had his mind set on me before even meeting me you..." Tony was about to ask only to realize who he was talking too. "Who am I kidding, you more than anyone know what I'm talking about." Tony stated with a brief chuckle.

Tony held up his now healed arm. "Yeah Victoria healed me up, so I feel tons better. I'm just going to head back to work since I'm all straightened up here. Guess for this thing they're doing they want me to be a tech consultant for this project. I'm in for pretty much business reasons." He quickly realized that if things are how they seemed, Tony for this project would be taking orders from 'MURICA. That was a horrifying thought...

Shaking it off Tony remembered something, reaching into his wallet he pulled out a small business card and handed over to Loki. "This is my personal cell number, I mean I'm not bragging or anything but I don't just go giving this out to anyone. Also next time you get a chance stop by Stark Tech. I want to give you a card to access my personal elevator and will give you access to all of the business. Down to being able to just pick up any of our products." Tony scratched the back of his neck, realizing how little he gets to show this kind of genuine feeling to someone. "Just... I really want to thank you for saving my life you know? Just... thank you man. I seriously owe you one so I think this is the least I can do."

Loki nodded his head with an expression on his face that not only got across the fact that he had been there and done that, he had done so that many times that he was on such good terms with the traveling staff that they happily invited him to their Christmas Party every year. Still, he managed a chuckle. "You can say that again."

Loki listened as Tony explained what his plans for the future seemed to be and the business relationship with Shield that he appeared to be embarking on, tilting his head somewhat to the side as he noticed the look of absolute horror that seemed to cross Tony's face. It didn't take much to guess what was on his mind. "I'll see what I can do about being the member of this new team that actually talks with you. I'm sure that this new Captain America will be to busy trying to live up to the image of his predecessor to complain to heavily about letting someone else talk to someone he doesn't get along with."

The offering of the card with the cellphone number on it and what was pretty much permission to access everything that Stark Industries had was honestly something that Loki was honestly caught off guard by the sheer level of reward that Tony was heaping on him just for saving his life. It was actually rather touching... Accepting the card, Loki took a moment to memorize the number on it before tucking it away for safe keeping despite it not longer really being needed. Still, Loki couldn't help but grin playfully as he started to speak "You know, normally when someone wanted to sleep with me they would offer to take me out to dinner or something. Alas if the way you were looking at me when I was talking with the rather lovely Pepper earlier was any indication you're not into men."

Tapping his chin a couple of times as if in mock thought, it wasn't until the third tap that there was a noticeable change in Loki's appearance. Namely the fact that he was now female with a slightly altered outfit. "If only there was some way to change that..." Loki purred playfully.

Tony needless to say got a very confused boner.

"Man I didn't mean it like that." Tony retracted fairly quickly at Loki and the fact that Loki as a woman was pretty damn sexy. Again though there was so much wrong and weird about it Tony couldn't let it all sink past the superficial. "I mean don't get me wrong you are very pretty." Tony chuckled, it was fascinating to see someone who not only proved that magic was real, but that it had such a wide range potentially of uses. He would be very interested in seeing what Loki could do... not in the way Loki was insinuating at the moment but in other ways. Though Tony had to also wonder about how Loki chose the look he just changed into. If Greek mythology was any indication, Tony could only wonder what kind of freaky stuff the Norse mythological beings were into.

"I mean with Pepper... man don't think of it like that. I've known Pepper since we were like kids, we go way back..." Tony didn't realize it but he was glaring at Loki a bit when Loki introduced himself to her, he cared about her but as far as he was concerned it was only in the sort of ways a friend would. He was probably digging a bigger and bigger hole for himself with every word he was saying by this point. So he adjusted his seat belt strap. "Anyways not to cut this awkwardly sexy scene short but I should be heading back to work." Tony noted. "What about you? I wouldn't mind giving you a tour of the headquarters if you want to tag along." Tony paused shaking his head, "And no I don't mean it like THAT."

Deciding to let the transformation drop now that the fun had been had, Loki was once again his normal, male self, if somewhat more amused then normal. "Thanks for the offer Tony but I have some business to take care of myself. Getting to know the lay of the land and all that. I'll make sure to swing by at some point in the future, alright?"

Tony gave Loki a thumbs up, having realized he now just knew so much more about the God than ever realized. "Yeah when you do check in with reception, they should know what's up.". With that Tony extended out a hand to shake and once Loki made his exit turned his attention back to the pilot. "So about that lunch..."

America had been quietly soothing Kate when Quentin, who was currently sat near the desk awkwardly, seemed to clap his hands loudly and jump to his feet. America and Kate both turned to look at him in confusion, the latter with tears still streaming down her face. After a brief telepathic briefing from the mutant, the two finally understood. S.H.I.E.L.D. was here. The two slowly rose to their feet too, America using her arm to support Kate as she did so. She was still weak and exhausted from had happened. It had taken a lot out of her so America was thankful for the brave face that she was now putting on.

I… I’m probably going to try and get out of here before they up here…

America smirked slightly as Quentin’s telepathic message. “Do you mean to tell me that the big, bad Quentin Quire is afraid of a mere group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents?

Before the mutant could retort, the penthouse’s service door burst open, releasing a horde of armoured agents into the room. The quickly circled the three teenagers, barking orders for them to freeze. America was about to put them back into their place and tell them that they were the ones who had called them in when a powerful sounding voice did it for her. America was intrigued to find its owner float into the room seconds later. The man wore a suit of black and gold, with a cape billowing behind him. America didn’t know what it was about him, but just being in the same room as him made her throat go a little dry. No, America wasn’t attracted to him or anything in the slightest, he just seemed to give off a strong feeling. The man’s powerful and intimidating look made her feel useless and powerful at the same time. All she could do for a few seconds was gaze and smile gleefully.

She quickly recovered once he spoke again however, with him approaching her and Kate, waving a female agent over to join them as he did so.

"This is Agent Baker. She's our resident medical officer and psych examiner. She'll do whatever she can to help you, ma'am. I couldn't possibly understand what you're going through." America nodded as he spoke. To be perfectly honest, she was surprised that S.H.I.E.L.D. had actually sent someone to come and look after Kate. She had very much expected the girl to have been pulled into an interrogation room, like the one she had found herself in just the other day, and been angrily questioned by a high ranking official. Maybe S.H.I.E.L.D. really did care? America was about to comment on this when the floating man turned directly at her. "I'll be on the roof. Come speak to me whenever you are able." That was all he said before he turned and drifted away.

Honestly America had no idea what to make of the man. Whatever could this guy want with her? Shaking the thought out of her head for now, she turned back towards her friends and Agent Baker. Quentin was talking to a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who seemed to be trying to get a gist of what had happened here. She nearly laughed when she heard him begin to brag about how he had singlehandedly taken all of the bodyguard’s down, but in the end she neglected to correct him. Instead, she raised her head to catch his attention, clearing her thoughts slightly as he telepathically asked her what was going on.

After informing him of her upcoming discussion with the super powered S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, she bid the kid a temporary goodbye before returning her gaze to Kate, who also seemed to be wanting to know what she was about to do.

“Just let Agent Baker here look after you, alright?” She said soothingly, giving the girl a hug. “I need to go help take care of this…mess. But don’t worry because as soon as I’m done, I’ll come see you again, ok?”

Kate silently nodded, embracing America once more before being directed away by Agent Baker. Now with that taken care of, America maneuvered herself out of the room and onto the roof. she found him waiting for her, with the man floating patiently in the air for her.

At once he began, informing her of his true reason for coming here. The Avengers. That was something America certainly hadn’t expected. She was amazed. Honoured even to have been considered the opportunity to join such a team of individuals. However comment about joining a team being a big commitment was right. America hadn’t even started to think of what she was going to do next! Would she return back to Earth-212? Sure it was nice there, but was she really living up to her true potential? But still, a team? America didn’t even know who else she was going to be working with. She hadn’t learnt much about this world’s mightiest heroes. The only “heroes” she knew of was this guy and Captain America. What if everyone else was a bunch of dicks?

After a brief few moments of internally debating with herself, America came to a decision.

“Well I might as well!” She said nervously. “What have I got to lose?”

He seemed to smile slightly at that remark, before following on with another question. It would seem that this man, Hyperion as he seemed to refer to himself as, had heard of her dimension hopping capabilities. No doubt everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. knew what she was capable of now. Nevertheless, she decided to play along with Hyperion’s request to see if she knew a version of him from elsewhere. She narrowed her eyes and took the whole guy in one more time. Honestly the name rang a bell. She tried to remember when she had last heard it. Was it a news report back on Earth-4667? A name in passing from her time among the Teen Brigade? No… It was something else. She could remember now. It had been a bad place. A bad Earth. A scorched Earth.

The thought intrigued America but honestly she couldn’t remember but now thinking about it, something seemed off. She couldn’t think of what it was though, so instead of informing Hyperion of what she was thinking, she put on a smile and a fake confused look.

“Can’t say I have, chico!” She said confidently, hoping that the guy wouldn’t think any more on it. “So, onwards to the Avengers I guess!”

Wilson just sighed as he finally got through to Barton. This wasn't exactly the reception he was wanting, he wanted to see how these guys all worked together as part of a team. Right now he needed a couple of people without powers and no known affiliation with the team to come in and test what they were made off. After all, the training room was all set and hopefully Carter was taking Pym there now. He didn't really need to invite Stark, he didn't particularly want too either. He wasn't ready to let that boy on the team, sure he had a sweet piece of tech but he sure as hell didn't have the training.

That would have to change if he kept trying to get into the super-hero business. There were plenty of S.H.I.E.L.D agents to do it, though in the end he knew who it was going to come down to... it wasn't the best scenario ever but it had to happen it had to happen. He wouldn't shirk his responsibilities...

"Barton, yeah I know what you're upto. I have the clearance. Listen, Furys given me any asset I need to set this up and he wants you on the team so... I I need you to clean up then you can get yourself back to the Triskellion A.S.A.P. Once there, enter the Avengers training room and with a squad proceed to attack all targets. Take it easy on Pym though he isn't as thick skinned as the rest of them. If you feel your job there will take too long I can send in Milton, he's just running pick up for me anyway right now."



Bruce stuck his hands in his pockets as he walked out of the hospital. Hood up and looking straight at the ground, a police car drove up to the entrance of the hospital before the officers filed into the building. Walking straight past him, thankfully. The problem was it would be no time at all until S.H.I.E.L.D or Ross got involved and they were far more likely to actually find him. He chose a road, and started to walk down it. The wilderness was the best place for him, all he had to do was find a town and from there he could maybe find a way to make some money and get a cabin in an ever more remote location. From there he could get the equipment and hopefully find a way to resolve the whole Hulk dilemma.

Yes, he had tried to do the same thing in Australia. Though he wasn't entirely trusting of Loki. Especially after he was teleported to safety and then people just so happened to turn up mere days later to try and capture him. Look what it had caused, there was still a lot of panic going on over a nuclear explosion in Canada. Canada of all places, if it was America people could probably understand it. Lots of weird superhero/supervillain stuff went down in America. But Canada? That was a serious blow and got a lot of people talking. Was it really safe to have all these people running around having grudge matches?

What differentiated the two groups? Of course Bruce understood. Not everyone was like the Hulk, volatile and destructive. Quite a lot of heroes did their best to minimize damage, and just wanted to try their best to help people. He'd never head that.

And so he walked down the lonely road, pretty soon it would become the only one he'd ever know. The Hulks creation saw to that, he'd never have a normal life for as long as the Hulk existed. That was just a fact off life.



Doom pushed himself up off the time travel pad as the Doom bots continued to rush to his side. He waved them away, they had business to attend too! Armoured pieces, crushed, burnt, broken, fell from him onto the ground. He signalled and smaller robots emerged from a hole in the wall, moving over with him tearing off the old parts and bolting new ones on. He gritted his teeth through the pain. The pain was nothing to what was to come, how could he have been so foolish? A hundred years and of course that brute was in charge, no doubt he had also been responsible for whatever cataclysm had claimed the Earth. Most likely to assist him seizing power. He'd need to prepare an arsenal first, that was important. He'd also need his own generals with their own unique... skills.

While he had no doubt he could combat this threat on his own, it was always useful to have someone to throw in the line of fire in order to see the strengths of ones enemies. It was always something to bear in mind, though there was someone who had something he needed... While Starks technology wasn't much more advanced than his own - after all, had Stark made a time machine? What Stark did have however, was a vast array of factory's and contacts ready to pump out whatever weaponry Doom would need in his war. While he had his own factory's he doubted with the recent declaration of trying to form a Latverian Union he could move such weaponry freely into the United States without raising more than a few eyebrows.

He just needed a way in, what was that idiots name who wanted a private meeting with him? Some important executive at Stark Tech? He eyed the combat reports from Sokovia as he considered the option and sighed as he saw that some pockets of the Sokovian Government had managed to activate some of his older weaponry and use it against the Doombots. Slowing down proceedings considerably, the only good thing was that as the war continued he was gaining a nice supply of refugees. Which in turn was allowing him to show the world what a benevolent ruler he truly was...

No matter what the Young Mr.Stark believed.

Carol had never heard someone else’s voice inside her head before. Even if the voice itself was calming and tried to establish that the mutant understood what she was going through and could help if necessary, the act of invading someone’s mind was at the very least a little disconcerting. This redhead did not seem too threatening, but what would stop her, or anyone else with similar powers, from pushing a thought into Carol’s mind or convince her to do something? Carol did in fact have potentially destructive powers of her own, but nothing could stack up to the power of violating an individual’s free will.

Meanwhile, Unus, with his impenetrable shield, gathered around Mastermind and the knocked down Blob. Once the three mutants were inside the protective encasing of Unus’ powers, nothing could harm them. Not even the psychic abilities of Jean Grey. Therefore, the three mutants held out within this defensive bubble until Vanisher reappeared in order to carry the remaining Brotherhood members away to safety.

After the departure of the remainder of the Brotherhood of Mutants, another one of the X-Men decided to chime in about Carol accidently sending a blast of energy in Jean Grey’s direction. In fact, it was one of the X-Men that she had not even noticed was there until that moment. However, his cursing was not the worse part about him flipping out. Normally, when one would jab a man with one’s finger, one would normally strike that man’s chest. However, if it were a woman instead of a man, the anatomic differences between the sexes would make the situation a little bit more awkward, as it was now for Carol. If Storm and Beast had not intervened in the nick of time, impelling the speedster to a half-assed apology (better than nothing), Carol would have slapped the man so hard (assuming she could hit him) that even his superhuman speed would have trouble canceling out the velocity at which she had sent him flying.

Now that the Brotherhood was defeated and all the civilians saved, the four X-Men began to depart in the Blackbird. As the Blackbird flew away southward back towards New York State, Carol looked down at the small business card that Jean Grey had telekinetically given to her a few moments ago. On the card it read: “Xavier Institute of Higher Learning”. Assuming from what Jean said about how they help people like her and from the rumors that these X-Men are mutants, Caroled decided that somehow this school must be helping out mutants on the side while still fulfilling its academic duties.

But a different thought entered into Carol’s mind. Was she herself a mutant? She does have powers, but Carol had never head of a mutant that could fluctuate between two set ages. However, never seeing this power does not mean it does not exist. Just as never seeing a million dollars before also does not make that amount of money fictional. But what would her father think about his daughter potentially being a mutant? He already was resentful that she survived the car crash and her brother Steven didn’t. Since she did not want to allow one of her parents to accidently stumble upon this card, revealing the possibility that she was a mutant, assuming they could make the connection between the school and mutants, Carol tried to activate her powers in the palm of her hand, this time attempting to localize the affect. Once her powers fired up, the card was incinerated.

Once the only evidence that could suggest that she might possibly be a mutant was destroyed, there was no longer any reason for Carol to stick around. While she knew that she had the ability to fly, particularly from the event where she caught that falling plane, Carol nevertheless has never consciously flown, or at least from what she could remember.

“How hard could it be?” Carol thought to herself as she looked up towards the stars. Right when she began to think about flying, the yellow aura reappeared around her body. With one leap off the ground, Carol soared up into the sky. At first, it seemed pretty easy to her. All she needed to do was aim both of her arms in the direction towards which she wanted to fly. However, Carol realized how fast she ascended into the sky until she realized that she had broken the atmosphere and therefore was now hovering in space.

Since it was the natural reaction to the situation, Carol threw her hands around her through, momentarily believing that she could not believe because space was a vacuum and did not have any oxygen and the other trace elements necessary for human respiration. However, after a few seconds, she realized that she was not suffocating for some strange reason. Her yellow aura was shining even brighter now. Was it the reason why Carol was able to endure the vacuum of space, along with its subzero temperature.

Once Carol had gotten over the shock of her ability to survive in space, she finally beheld the majesty of the view that lay before her. The moon sluggishly rolled past her. The surface of the moon that was facing her reflected the rays of light of the sun that the earth itself was not blocking. Behind the moon were the stars that filled the black void of space. Around any urban area, most of the stars remain invisible to the naked eye. However, up in the space, Carol could see the light of countless stars shine. She could even barely make out Mars and Jupiter, although they seemed more like stars from this distance.

When she had finished gazing at the stars and the other celestial bodies, Carol turned her focus back to earth. Everything looked so small from up in space. Even Massachusetts appeared to be a small protrusion on the North American continent, let alone the city of Boston. It almost felt the same as when someone looks out of an airplane window and sees that the buildings and cars almost appear as if they were miniature toys.

“Well, looks like getting back home will be quite interesting.

Pietro wasn't a stranger to undercover guerrila tactics as anyone who knew him in the slightest could attest too. However usually his involved the kind of violence that wouldn't fly with anyone in the X-Men. So Pietro for the most part kept quiet when Cyclops went over the plan. Occasionally stepping in surprisingly professionally with insight about how security would normally be stationed in such a situation and where were going to be key hitting points. All things he learned in his work. Cyclops never gave Pietro any lip for speaking up, instead paying attention and working his plan like a masterpiece around new information and thoughts. Pietro as much as he couldn't stand Cyclops' tendencies to be a stick in the ass. He respected the guy for his strategy and planning. Strangely, Pietro was reminded of his 'father' Erik in that way.

As the group went inside Pietro kept with the group, only speeding off to get a quick glimpse ahead or into any small areas for Firestar or Nightcrawler's possible holding spots. He kept his composure as they would be staring down the barrel of security at points, though he couldn't resist throwing an occasional single finger salute to them to show how he believed authority such as them were number one in his mind. Even knowing it would get him a glare from Cyclops every time he did it.

As the group hit the area Pietro glanced over at Spider-Man and his quip about having telepathy done to your brain. “Don't worry, you never will...” Pietro muttered back with a bit of a smirk. He got the instructions from Cyclops, waiting a moment and taking his time to really take in the guards and their equipment. Where the rifle was, how it was being held, if they had a pistol and where it was usually holstered, left or right hip. Any grenades the guards were carrying and what they were (yes Pietro could tell by looking at them). Finally Pietro drew up his line of attack in his head. When he was in these types of moments he always found having a moment to make sure he knew what to do was vital. Once he started running the window of opportunity was brief even for his running speeds. So he had to know exactly the route and movement he needed to do first and foremost before he went in.

Finally Pietro leapt down from the hiding spot, his legs quickly moving leaving him off in a dash the moment a foot touched the ground. Then in a blur Pietro went into his routine. Yanking away assault rifles, pulling out and getting pistols, and pulling on smoke grenades to create more chaos for the others to take advantage of. Finally getting to the end where he had a large handful of weapons in his hands. Dropping all of it except for one assault rifle he fired up into the air of. “Alright boys and girls get off your asses already!”

This was the downside of being S.H.I.E.L.D.’s best squad of agents. They were the best thing that S.H.I.E.L.D. had in order to evaluate this superhuman team, which was code named the Avengers. Now that all these superhumans began to come out of the woodwork, the most experienced spy organization in the world had to level the playing field. Obviously, S.H.I.E.L.D. did not want to send out an untested team into the field. That’s why they needed Hawkeye’s team to make sure that these so-called ‘Avengers’ would be up to snuff for being a superhuman response squad.

Hawkeye wanted to ask whether there were anyone else available. As Captain America was well aware of, they were currently in the middle of a delicate infiltration mission against an A.I.M. hide out. Weren’t there any other available squads for this task? Unfortunately, since Hawkeye and his squad were the best that S.H.E.I.L.D. had, they were the most qualified group within SHIELD to perform this task.

“I’ll keep you in the loop.” Hawkeye responded to Captain America, “You never know about these A.I.M. guys. For how smart they claim to be, they sometimes do some pretty dumb mistakes.”

Hawkeye immediately terminated the communications with his supervisors, knowing that, even though these ‘beekeepers’ highly overestimate their intelligence, leaving this channel open could take away their element of surprise. Hawkeye has seen some crazy stuff during his spy career with S.H.I.E.L.D., especially in his encounters with A.I.M. Whenever wacky phenomena are involved, any advantage that a non-enhanced human could get was welcome.

The first portion of the mission went smoothly, even in spite of the minor interruption while the squad was scaling up the side of the A.I.M. base. The beauty of the bow and arrow is its relative silence. Fire arms are extremely noisy in comparison. Even with silencers, the noise is only muffled, not silenced, despite what these devices are called. Hawkeye and his team made it all the way to the center of the base without even being detected, either by evading guards or knocking them out without giving away their position.

This central room was configured for some sort of experiment concocted by the ‘brains’ behind A.I.M. The room was shaped like a cone, with the floor descending ever sharply as one would go towards the center. The slope of the room was so steep that, beyond the narrow strip of flooring that crowned the edges of the room, where all the electronic equipment was located, the scientists needed a spiral ramp in order to reach the bottom. Above the pit, a large, purple orb was suspended from the ceiling, which the A.I.M. scientists had dubbed the ‘Zeta beam’.

On a platform that looked over this conical pit, a strange being floated beside the other yellow-clad A.I.M. scientists. This man, if he could even be called that, looked as if he was a giant head, incased in metal plating, who had the tiny limbs of either an infant or a disabled person who had not used either their arms or legs in their entire life. While most people would probably be freaking out at this moment, the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were not quite taken back at this sight. These bizarre situations were part of the job description.

Before Hawkeye or anyone in his squad could do anything, the machinery in the room suddenly activated, launching a purple beam of ionic energy down from the orb that was suspended from the ceiling. Although Hawkeye did not know what that column of purple light was doing, he guessed that it was nothing good. Therefore, he drew an arrow from his quiver, aimed at the control module, and fired. The arrow that Clint had selected was specifically designed to deactivate electronics. When the shaft struck the controls that stood before the chief scientists of A.I.M. and the floating robotic head that was called MODOK, the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing, the yellow clad men scrambled to reactive the device as they saw the purple beam dissipate before their eyes.

However, MODOK discovered the SHIELD agents. “Intruders.” He said in a semi-robotic voice, “They must not interfere with our experiment!”

A red, metallic square on MODOK’s forehead began to glow. Anticipating MODOK’s attack, all the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents dove for cover, dodging the mental beam that that ‘man’ fired in their direction. Before MODOK could fire off a second blast, Hawkeye swiftly drew his bow and landed an arrow square on the red device that emitted MODOK’s mental beam. Due to his scrawny arms, MODOK struggled in vain to remove the arrow from his forehead before his mental beam would overload. As was expected due to his anatomy, MODOK could not pull off Hawkeye’s arrow, which caused the mental beam of the head of A.I.M. to overload and discharged the beam. At that same moment, the A.I.M. scientists had reactivated the ion-induced Zeta beam in order to reinitiate the experiment. However, MODOK’s mental bolt intersected with the ionic particles produced from the Zeta beam, resulting in a chain reaction that caused the device to malfunction and pure emit a column of ionic energy greater than the A.I.M. scientists had programmed the device to release.

Everyone, both the A.I.M. scientists and the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents stood in awe as they watched the purple column of light dissipate in front of them. Once the Zeta beam had stopped pouring out the ionic energy, everyone could discern that someone, or something was standing at the bottom of the conical room. His skin, or what looked like the outer layer of his body, had the same purple hue as the ionic particles that were released by the Zeta beam. Furthermore, it seemed as if a smoke-like substance, that was the same color as is body, was floating away from his body. When he opened his eyes, his eyes did not appear like one of a normal human, but it glowed red. After the man looked up, he immediately jumped into the air, soaring up towards the ceiling and crashing through the roof of the building.

“Incredible!” MODOK shouted aloud, gloating in the success in his experiment which he truly did not expect to succeed in the first place, “I have created a being of pure ionic-energy. I am science! I am genius!” However, before the giant head could celebrate his ‘victory’ any more, Hawkeye shot out a volley of net arrows, which slammed into MODOK and sent him flying into the wall and trapped the AIM monstrosity behind a metal net.

“Um, Cap.” Hawkeye opened up the communication channel back to base once again, “You might want Milton to test those Avengers. We just had a purple Doctor Manhattan zoom out of the A.I.M. base. We’re in pursuit now.”

Stark Tower's security knew better than to confront her when she returned. It had taken a unite of SHIELD's elite soldiers, a helicopter armed to the teeth pointing a chaingun at her face, and a magic-weilding God of Legend to subdue her last time. Even that had failed of course, she'd surrendered and then fled and they hadn't stopped her then.

Fury likely suspected she'd return to Stark towers, that was where Mjolnir was, since no one was going to pick it up while she was gone, of course she had a backup plan if this plan didn't work, Sif's greatsword was strapped across her back, Sif had died during Ragnarok, she wouldn't miss it. Tarene was a hammer-girl truth be told, but she'd make do well enough with the sword in Mjolnir's stead.

Guards didn't just part when they saw her from several feet away, they dove out of the way and she encountered zero resistance. She hoped Tony wouldn't punish them, they were only human and they were afraid, rightly so, she could crush them even without her hammer. He seemed decent enough, at least ... she felt maybe she could assume that much, he'd taken a beating to protect his colleagues, she had to admit his bravery was nothing if not admirable.

Finally she reached the floor where they'd fought, the ceiling-to-floor pane of glass was shattered and debris still littered the floor. No one had touched the scene since the fight. Mjolnir stood in the same place she'd left it, the floor beneath it scorched black with forks of lightning.

"Think you'll be able to lift it?"
Her gaze darted to the source of the voice.
"You're one of SHIELD's agents ... I recognise you." she narrowed her eyes trying to recall a name. "Son of Coul ... Fury sent you."
He offered an apologetic smile, he likely knew she wasn't fond of being followed.
"You're a dangerous fugitive on the run, we have to watch you, in truth, no one knew where you went, you ran pretty fast, but a criminal always returns to the scene of a crime, or so the saying goes."
"You think me a common criminal?"
"You are by no means common Tarene." he replied pointedly.
"I cannot hear her calling me anymore." her gaze returned to Mjolnir.
"Who?"
"The hammer ... Mjolnir, I do not hear her. I fear I am unworthy."
Tarene felt a profound sadness wash over her, for a fraction of a second during the battle before she let go of the hammer, it suddenly felt heavier than ever before ... yet she had still been worthy before she let it slip through her fingers. She could still be worthy now, she just had to try.
"Son of Coul, come with me." she said, turning on her heels to walk in his direction toward the door.
"Where are you going?" he asked, struggling to fall into step with her long strides ... he had been told to keep an eye on her and she seemed to be calm now so it was worth a try.
"I'm going to get something to drink."

Jake Olsen...

He took the name a long time ago, a means to be able to fit in with the people of Midgard and keep what was his real truths hidden. Its been so long since that time, sometimes he forgets he was even living a lie. That the Thor Odinson, god of thunder and father of Odin that he was in reality was in fact the fantasy the people around him only thought of it as. It was a tough time but in trying times one always has to be able to adapt or will parish.

Thor has spent so many years in Midgard since the fall of his home. So much time gone that Thor hasn't even been able to remember the exact number anymore. Still he can recall the days of old, the days when his brother was a much kinder, warmer soul. Before it became blackened with hate and misguided pride. Thor yearned for those days sometimes, other days he was thankful that Loki was gone. Only a miracle could've saved him from himself after time.

As Thor glanced around at the variety of beers in the supermarket he felt his mind going to all those seemingly random in the moment thoughts. Leaning back a bit, still holding his half empty shopping cart in a hand as the other ran through his long blond hair. Sighing a bit to himself over having another moment of fleeting thoughts of a long, since ruined past. "Never did understand all this fancy craft beer crap myself..." Thor glanced over at the older in appearance man next to him. Wearing an army t-shirt and jeans, complimenting in a way the red flannel and jeans Thor himself had on. Thor smirked a bit, he actually rather liked the craft beers himself.

"No not that, just got a bit... well homesick I suppose." Thor said with a bit of self humored whimsy. Leaning down on his shopping cart's handle.

"Oh? Where you from?" The man asked.

"Norway..." Thor had beaten that answer into his mind so much by this point it was a breeze to tell that lie.

The old man nodded, "Lovely place, was stationed there a time you know? Hopefully you can go back sometime." The old man patted Thor on his broad shoulder which Thor barely felt.

"Yeah, hopefully." Thor muttered with an empty tone. He didn't see any reason he could believe that.

Picking out a couple cases of beer to go with the various other things Thor had paid for his things and took it all to the beaten up Ford pick up he has had for some time now. Ever since he moved to Montana around the early 80s. The thing was fairly new at that point but now it felt like it was on its last legs. Thor took it as a sign that maybe the time has come to move on from this place. Montana had a lovely natural beauty to it, but he has seen it all to the point of being numb from it. Which was usually his sign it was time to go somewhere else and start over again. Part of him enjoyed it, everything he has seen and done could create a book the size of the very world itself in tales. Otherwise though, Thor would love to be able to just stay put, and actually not feel like a stranger anymore. None the less Thor hopped into his truck and started it to drive home.

If he had wanted to, Loki could have teleported to the target location Montana but instead he opted to take a lift on one of the helibirds. He claimed that it was because he didn't want to alert the man that S.H.I.E.L.D had wanted him to check out by teleporting in because he might detect the magic he was using; This wasn't actually a lie since depending on who it was that might have been an actual concern. In truth he had needed time to get his thoughts together and consider just how the hel he was going to handle this situation.

Why did all the ghosts from his past have to be alive and well and coming back to haunt him now of all times? At the rate Asgardians were coming out of the woodwork like cockroaches he could hire a maid and it would turn out to be Odin wearing a dress!

The bird came down some distance away from the last known residence of the possibly Asgardian man that he had been sent to meet with... Stepping off his ride he started to cover the rest of the distance by foot.

Thor's truck made noises that made him worry that sooner or later the damn thing was going to explode into a mushroom cloud of broken parts. Still it was getting him from point A to point B. That was the main thing that mattered as far as he was concerned at the moment. As Thor quietly drove back home, listening to the talk radio station the FM radio was stuck on. He spotted something overheard doing in the same direction, odd considering the area wasn't really doing much as far as he knew.

As Thor pulled into the dirt driveway leading up to his house he looked up and spotted someone near his house, he didn't see the person's face, someone in a large black coat. Thor grimaced, he didn't know what the guy wanted but considering who usually come looking for him its almost never good. Something ranging from on the easier side some door to door salesman guy who was desperate, to at worst someone trying to steal something. Sure he didn't have much of anything, much less something worth stealing. But Thor was a man of ethics, so a thief was still going to suffer for their crimes.

Putting the breaks to the truck he stepped out as he killed the engine and put it into park. "Hey!" Thor called out to the man, "Don't know what you're doing here but this is private property!"

Loki's ear twitched a little as he heard a voice that had had not heard for a very, very long time. He had fully expected to never hear that voice again... and he didn't actually know how he should feel about the fact that the speaker was alive in the first place. Time and reflection had cooled the hatred and banished the insanity but old memories stung deep as they were unearthed once more. Turning around slowly, Loki looked at Thor for the first time in years and found himself conflicted. "Hello brother." It seemed as appropriate a greeting as any... hopefully the conversation would end with him still having his head.

As he saw the man start to turn Thor's eyes slowly widened, his lips parted, and the world around him, and everything he thought he knew, all slowly came to a stop. It was someone who should be dead, who he watched lose his life during the end of the world that he brought. How was the man here before him now. Thor stepped away from his truck, his mind swirling from not understanding what he was seeing. Was this some sadistic trick? Some kind of illusion?

It wasn't until he was a step away from Loki that he realized it was the actual little brother. "H-how? You died... I watched you be killed..." Thor muttered in the desperation of trying to make sense of all this. As the moment passed Thor's look of shock slowly turned into a look of anger. All the feelings, the years of having to hide, seeing Loki destroying everything he cared for and loved. Thor's hand clinched tighter and tighter. His teeth slowly grinding harder and harder against one another. Finally it all came to a head, as Thor reared back, and with a solid wind up slammed his left fist as hard as possible into Loki's jaw. Letting out an almost barbaric yelling as he did so.

As Loki collapsed to the ground Thor breathed hard through his nose as he looked at the downed sibling. Finally though, Thor calmed down a bit. Having gotten the anger out of his system, at least for the time being. Going back to his pick up he pulled out the assortment of plastic bags and beer 24 packs. He took his time carrying up the path to his front door, fiddling to get the door open. Stopping to turn to Loki. "Are you coming in or what?" He asked simply. Not waiting for an answer as he went inside, leaving the door open for Loki as he headed into the kitchen to put his groceries away.

Just as Loki feared, in taking punch number two today it was indeed a long day.

Even as he rubbed his jaw while getting off of the ground that he had been knocked on to, Loki couldn't believe just how lightly he had gotten off so far; Sure, Thor had just punched him square in the face but the fact that was all that had happened so far...

Accepting the invitation and stepping inside, Loki made the effort to look around while keeping an eye on his adopted brother. "It's a nice place you've got here... Been here long?" He started off someone lamely; How do you start a conversation with a man that you tried to kill and slaughtering most of his loved ones and burning down his home?

Truth be told Thor was fighting his inner feelings about seeing Loki again so hard. There was a part of him that wanted to tear the bastard limb from limb. It was the barbaric side of Thor, the side that was forged from eons of battles on Asgard. It would be easy too, Loki, even with all his magical power, was frail and clearly hadn't spent time bulking up in the meantime. Still the thousands of years made Thor show more peaceful practices before resorting to physical violence. That bar in Sweden was a standing monument to this idea. Well it would've been a standing monument if he didn't end up leaving it not standing after his violence.

"I built it myself about... 76 years ago." Thor noted, needing to recall the date. It was clear by his tone that Thor had a lot of pride in that. Back in his Asgard days he never would've imagined using his hands to create like this. However all those years of various trades training gave Thor enough insight to be able to build a place that he was very comfortable in. Still he finished putting his groceries away in the kitchen and took a pair of bottles of beer. Casually passing one to Loki as he passed him into the living room where he took a seat onto a couch. "Come, sit." Thor commanded with a tone, but hard to read tone as he watched Loki. "I suppose the question I have to ask first is... how the Hell are you still alive?"

Catching the beer that was thrown his way easily enough before once again accepting the invitation to sit; It felt insanely weird to be following what had quite clearly been an order but his own curiosity drove him on wards if only to see how this would end.

The fact that Thor had built this place himself actually caused Loki to look somewhat impressed, as well as gave Loki somewhat of an idea as to why his brother wasn't trying to kill him; He didn't want to destroy what he built.

Of course, then the first question that needed to be asked was raised...

"I could ask you the same, but to answer your question... I was betrayed and imprisoned in a cell in the nether for..." There was a pause as a choice of words was considered and decided upon "Well, time doesn't really mean anything in the Nether. I spent an untold amount of time being tormented there until a group of young humans in nineteen fourteen freed me to help them free their country from the empire in charge of it at the time... And by pure accident began the series of events that started the First World War. Tried to be a lot more careful since then."

Taking a moment to sip his beer, Loki felt the need to ask "So... How are you alive? Asgardians seem to be coming out of the woodwork lately."

Pulling the cap off of his beer with no effort as he listened to Loki's story. Interesting to hear he did indeed die but people brought him back. It gave him a feeling that Loki's docile nature so far. The little brother he saw before this encounter had nothing but rage and insanity pulsing through his heart. So the fact that Loki was being fairly reasonable told Thor a lot. "I always thought the way all that went down was a bit strange." Thor noted.

"I survived, though it was through some means I'm not proud of.... Still I've been around on Midgard here since. I've traveled all over the globe and did everything. Way too many stories to tell you at the moment." Thor took a swig of beer, leaning back in the sofa before looking very sternly over at Loki. "Now though we need to talk. Something about how you've approached me today says that you're not the same Loki I saw last in battle. I don't know if you are a changed man or if this is some kind of long game but all I can hope for right now is that you have learned from your own mistakes."

Taking another drink of beer Thor wiped his lips with his wrist. "Because look... I get it. Odin, as much as the blood in my veins disallows me to say anything too harsh about him. I realize now he didn't truly understand what being a father meant. Me on the other hand, I adored having you with me. I loved that you weren't like the other kids, and I felt like I learned more from seeing you do the same things I did. Even when Odin told me you weren't really a brother in blood I didn't care. If anything I cared about you more..."

Thor looked a bit wistful and distant seeing the memory creep into his own mind. "When you were humiliated by Eltri, I tried to run out there for your help. Father stopped me though, and had me taken to my room by force." Thor quickly finished his beer to blot out the thoughts running through his mind but swiftly continued. "I knew you had changed but I had hoped it was something that would pass, or you would seek asylum before doing something drastic. Had I known what it would lead to, you bet I would've done so much more to stop that festering boil of hate inside of you sooner."

Thor though let a long sigh out of his system. "Still, if you have changed for the better I can only hope its genuine." Reaching over Thor patted Loki's hand with a smile. "Because I'd love to have my little brother back."

Looking down at his hand, the look on Loki's face was unreadable as he looked at the hand that was being patted by a man that once upon a time he would have given anything to see him broken and dead before him. Now through...

A sigh escaped him as he looked away from his adoptive brother. "I... Thor, I don't think I'm ready to be the little brother you want me to be. I honestly didn't believe that you were still alive all this time; I found your trice-damned hammer in Tarene's possession for crying out loud. I hadn't even known that you were the Asgardian that I was going to find out here until I saw you."

"Just...Give me some time to get used to the idea, okay?" It was a small plea, but hopefully Thor would respect.

Thor's hand awkwardly slipped off of Loki's at the request. Thor's grimace showed his worry about Loki and where he was mentally. The fact that Loki still was missing something, or couldn't come to terms with something. It made Thor worry for his brother's well being. "Well Loki I'll be here for you if you need me. Even if we couldn't go back to the good ol' days there's something to you now that makes me feel like we can coexist now even after everything." Thor chuckled as he leaned back in his seat. "Heaven knows we've had more than enough time to let our wounds heal."

Still though Thor's eyes widened as he realized what Loki mention, not just that Tarene was still alive. Mjolnir, a weapon of mass power that Thor adored but thought was long gone. "Tarene is alive and has Mjolnir?!" Thor leaned back to Loki, if all of this was a trick Thor couldn't help but get suckered into it given what Loki had just told him. "I... I know maybe I came off a bit strong with what I had said. But... where is Tarene? Is she well?" He realized a reunion between Loki and Tarene probably wasn't as friendly as this was. "Did she wound you badly?"

Loki couldn't help but chuckle a little as he answered "That's the understatement of the year. She didn't get to hurt me that badly; Not sure where she is currently or what mental state she is currently in because last I saw her I managed to talk her out of killing a mortal man that had refused to help her find me."

There was a moment of debate as Loki considered telling his brother about Mjolnir; The damn thing was most likely still where it had been left at Stark Tower unless someone absolutely heroic had come along and proved themselves to be worthy of the hammers strange set of standards.

In the end however, Loki decided that he might as well be honest with his brother; He had seen where the path of withholding information from people had led to and it wasn't pretty. "Mjolnir is currently resting at Stark Tower in New York; Tarene left it there and I doubt anyone has been able to move it since."

Thor glanced down at the floor for the moment, debating quietly if he should ask knowing Loki wasn't exactly a fan of the thing. It was a history of his pain and misery, made physical to insult him every time he so much as glanced at it. Finally Thor glanced over to Loki and made it clear in his voice how much what he asked for mattered. "I know you despise the thing, but bring me to it." Thor asked with a stern, but calm tone. "If nothing else, I do not trust a midgardian to take it. Too much power for a mere mortal."

A shake of his head was all Loki offered at the suggestion. "If you want it back, you're going to have to get it yourself. As far as I am concerned, anyone who can claim it deserves to have it... Through I'm happy to help you get to it if you wish."

A serious look came over Loki's face as he looked at Thor. "First through, I need to speak to you about why I am here. Have you ever heard of S.H.I.E.L.D?"

Simon Williams gazed up at the giant Zeta beam that was suspended above him. Some men are just born with a tendency towards wrongdoing and evil. Others, like Simon, found themselves in difficult situations that called for desperate measures. Williams Innovations had been founded by Simon’s father as a conglomerate in military technology and weaponry. Under his father, the business thrived as the late Mr. Williams supplied the United States with a good portion of its military supplies. However, once Simon’s father died, opinion turned against Simon because the business world did not believe in someone at Simon’s young age could run such a company. Stocks dropped and contracts were pulled. In a matter of a few years, Williams Innovations fell from the ranks of the conglomerate juggernauts.

Then the hostile takeovers came. Rival corporations, like Roxxon and OsCorp began to buy up stock in a bid to take over Williams Innovations. Before Simon’s eyes, the company that his father had built with his own blood and sweat was crumbling in the wake of the wolves of rival conglomerates. Now desperate for any chance to save his father’s company, Simon turned to his older brother, Eric. In order to protect Williams Innovations, Simon would have to raise a large sum of capital in order to counter the moves the companies bidding for his father’s legacy. However, there was no way of producing that much money legally. Therefore, by the advice of his brother, Simon laundered company money in shady overseas activities, probably tied with HYDRA and AIM activities. While the profit that could be made from this strategy was immense, the risk of being discovered was even greater.

However, Simon was not quite lucky in this regard. Once it was discovered that Simon had laundered company money into shady and probably illegal activities, his career as a business man was officially over. Having been taken up on charges of laundering of company money, Simon saw no way out. The final straw was when another major company, Thomas Technologies, swooped in and bought out all the other shares in Williams Innovations from the rival corporations that had set their rapacious eyes on what they considered easy prey. Now that Simon had lost his credibility as a business man and the company that his father had built from scratch, there was only one option left for Simon: desperation. Against his own better judgement, Simon went back to his brother, who had gotten him into the illegal activities in the first. Seeking vengeance on the business men who either had tried to or did steal his company away from him, like Norman Osborn or Wayne Thomas, Simon agreed to become the Guinea pig for a bizarre experiment that was being conducted by AIM so that he might acquire the power to punish those who had ruined his life.

It was now time for the Zeta beam to be fired. Even if Simon had begun to develop second guesses about what he had signed up for, it was nevertheless too late to stop. A pillar of purple light enveloped Simon, which sent waves of pain throughout his body. It almost felt as if his very atoms were being pulled apart. Only momentarily did the pain stop when, for whatsoever reason, the experiment was interrupted. However, Simon didn’t know who was interfering. But the pain returned, tenfold what is was mere seconds ago when a second column of purple light descended down to the floor, larger than the last one.

Due to how painful the experience was, Simon thought this was going to be his end. However, once the purple light dissipated, he discovered that he had in fact survived the experiment of those mad scientists who were dressed like beekeepers. He now had the power to punish those who had stolen everything from him. Now feeling the ionic energy pulsing throughout his body, Simon launched himself up towards the ceiling, smashing through the building material in a way that he would not have otherwise been able to do before the AIM experiment. Since he was airborne, Simon soared towards the place where he could find the man who had stolen his father’s company: Thomas Technologies.

In a matter of minutes, Simon was bursting into one of the upper floors of the New York executive office of Thomas Technologies. Chaos ensued as Simon tore up the place while looking for Wayne Thomas. Terror-stricken employees scrambled for the exits as they tried to put as much distance as they could between themselves and this purple monstrosity. However, when he could not find the man that had bought up his company, Simon let out a shout.

“Where are you, Wayne Thomas, you thief!”

“Whom are you accusing of being a thief?” Simon Williams turned to face whoever had replied to his outburst. He had expected Wayne Thomas to have been the culprit. However, he discovered a man clad entirely in black. He had a dark cape flowing behind him, while a hood concealed his face. Only the glare of red eyes could be seen from under that hood. Underneath the cape, the man wore protective armor. This was the Rider.

“Who the hell are you supposed to be?”

“I put down those who terrorize the innocent.” The Rider threatened as he pulled out a few shuriken from beneath his cape. Almost as soon as he had finished speaking, the Rider had flung the concealed weapons towards Simon. Although the Rider’s aim was on the mark, Simon merely raised his palm up and incinerated the hooded man’s projectiles. Even the Rider had to leap out of the way of the purple beam of ionic energy, lest he be roasted alive by Simon’s attack.

“I like to see you try.”

Hyperion could hear Miss America's heart as well as he heard her words. It beat fiercely, defying what came forth from her mouth. She was lying. Zhib-Ran hid his anger and disappointment well; only someone with his sort of...skills would be able to tell that anything was amiss. Milton offered the young heroine a smile and a nod. "Ah, well. Worth a try. Come, fly with me. I'm sure that Captain America wants to meet you in person, especially since you've chosen to accept our offer. He seemed most intrigued by you, miss." Hyperion casually stepped off the edge of the penthouse roof and took flight. He made sure to move slowly, so that the recruit could keep pace. A quiet beep in Hyperion's ear came from his communicator. He touched the device. "Go ahead." An agent began to explain. There was a change of plans, apparently. It would seem that Hawkeye's squad had gotten stuck fighting AIM and Milton was now being asked to test the Avengers team personally. The idea brought a small smirk to Zhib-Ran's face. Knowing he would need to face these humans once more in the near future, it made sense to get a feeling for their powers, skills and strategies now. If he knew how they operated, Hyperion could deal with them quite easily when the time came for his take over of earth. He thanked the operator on the other end for the information and turned to his companion to explain why they would be changing their flight course.

"We will be heading for the Triskellion. Cap ordered the team to meet up there for their evaluation. Fury wanted Hawkeye's squad to test you all, but apparently he's been caught up in more important business. So the task has been regulated to me." Hyperion realized that Miss America probably had no idea who Hawkeye was and decided to elaborate for her benefit. "Hawkeye is one of SHIELD's best agents and is indisputably the best marksmen on the planet. I've seen him shoot the wings off a fly from nearly a mile away and leave it alive. The crazy part? He did it with a bow."

Hyperion increased his speed as they continued to fly onward. He wanted to test Miss America's powers as much as he could. He was constantly evaluating, scanning and judging everyone he came across, but this was a special case. Miss America posed a unique threat to Hyperion's plans. If she were to reveal whatever she knew of him to Fury or the Captain, Hyperion's credibility might come into question. SHIELD could retaliate before Hyperion was truly ready. That could not occur.

Miss America would need to be dealt with soon. Very soon.

But not now. Too much suspicion would be cast on Milton if the girl vanished under his watch. That he could not afford either. Gah, intrigue was far too complicated for Zhib-Ran's tastes. If he had his way, he'd be marching into the United Nations and ordering this disgusting planet to bend the knee. But there were beings on this planet with extraordinary abilities. If they rallied together against Hyperion, there wasn't much the would-be tyrant could do to stop them. For now, he would need to wait. Play this game of lying and infiltrating. This was always Nighthawk's cup of tea; Hyperion was more a fan of hitting things.

---

The pair of superhumans landed right outside of the Triskellion. What was once known as Camp Leigh was now SHIELD's main base of operations. The flight had taken longer than usual, but they had arrived on schedule. The Quinjets full of SHIELD Agents were right behind them; they contained everyone found at the scene. Quentin and Kate were being brought in for questioning, while the rest had prison to look forward to. Hyperion walked towards the front door of the cylindrical building, passing by the statue of Steven Rogers, the original Captain America, as well as the flag of the United States of America that stood beside it. The front entrance was made entirely of glass. The windows allowed a clear view of the massive black eagle statue, which dominated the back of the lobby. Hyperion escorted Chavez past the main atrium and the reception and followed a weaving labyrinth of hallways and elevators until they finally arrived at a non-descript doorway.

Zhib-Ran punched a couple of buttons in and the door slid open. He motioned inside with his hand. "After you." Miss America stepped inside, Hyperion following behind her. he looked at the individuals within. They were the potential Avengers recruits. The heroes who would stand between him and victory. "My name is Hyperion. I'll be evaluating your combat skills and your ability to work as a team. Your first test starts...now." Hyperion's eyes lit up crimson and a pair of continuous beams of energy shot out from his retinas, heading right for Miss America.

Brooklyn, NY, 11:44 am....

Even the young pretty Russian girls glanced up a time or two despite their body building boyfriends and mob affiliated family members being around. This didn't matter of course when they wore such big sunglasses. Enjoying the warmth while they still could, by late September the weather would turn cold and then they would get to wear their expensive coats and boots. Northstar, out of costume and on his third floor terrace, was quite the sight for some of them.

It was just under twenty-eight hundred miles back to Twin Peaks, Washington, so any time Louis got home sick it would only take around twenty to thirty minutes to fly there going as fast as Mach 10. It all just depended on which way the wind was blowing and if there was any more severe weather to avoid. Feeling it was as good a time as any to get some fresh air, Louis put on his Northstar suit and bolted out of his terrace door so that nobody would realize yet just who he was. The mutant hero was rich, but nobody was able to put two and two together when he vibrated his molecules enough to mess up any picture or recording devices that caught him in a clearer view. It was a trick he'd learned from some super fast hero in a comic book as a teenager.

"Tabitha is a sweet girl. A bit loud sometimes, but she's grown on me the last couple months since moving here..." Louis thought, now high above the city skyline with the tall buildings beneath him.

"It's still taking some time getting used to the pace of the city, I'm not used to this many people being around. Thankfully I'm not the only superhero on this side of the 'States." he continued thinking as he flew over the city.

Down below, a man clad in red and white with large forearms looked up through binoculars at the mutant hero.

"That really him, 'Dozer? Doesn't look like somebody who could stand against the Wrecking Crew..." asked Piledriver tossing the binoculars to their leader.

"He's a lot tougher than he looks. Trust me." replied the yellow clad steel plated villain.

"Even one man down, this guy's gonna get what's coming to him. Tonight. Nobody makes fools of the 'Crew..." exclaimed Wrecker with his enchanted crowbar in hand, "This thing can knock down demi-Gods, this mutant superhero ain't got a snowball's chance..."

~KL~

“I knew that I would have some company after I captured these muties.” Herbert Landon declared calmly, even with the ground floor having been covered with the gas emitted by the smoke grenades and with a mutant wielding an automatic assault rifle. He began to walk through the fog of smoke towards a ladder that led up to a separate upper level in that room. “That’s why my, well, investors decided to provide a little help, just in case anyone decided to interfere with my experiments. Well, I guess this is my cue to exit stage right.”

“I don’t think so.” Cyclops shouted from his perch above, while he aimed his visor at the ladder so that he could wreck Landon’s means of escape before he could climb up it. Although Cyclops was successful in putting the ladder out of commission without injuring Landon, a bullet whirled right past his head, missing it by only inches. Instinctively, Cyclops hit the deck, diving for the floor of the upper deck so that he could protect himself from the marksman below.

“Quicksilver, I thought I told you to disarm everyone down here!” Cyclops shouted into the ‘x’ shaped communicator.

“You could have killed me!” Landon yelled up towards Cyclops, “By breaking into this facility, your actions only prove my point that the world needs my formula. You are a disease that is killing off humanity!”

“Funny coming from the man who would willingly use humans as Guinea pigs.” Iceman taunted back. At that moment, Bobby Drake was trying to freeze the chemicals within the vat in the center of the room. If you cannot stop the cages from being moved over to the vat of chemicals, you might as well try to prevent them from being submerged. So far, he had only managed the create a thick layer of ice (or rather a layer of the chemical in a frozen state), but there was plenty of liquid still underneath that layer of ice. Suddenly, something swung out of nowhere and knocked Iceman down onto the floor. All Bobby could discern from the situation was that he saw a red and blue blur come straight at him.

When Iceman began to pick himself off the ground, he saw someone in a red and blue costume standing before him. Confused at what he was seeing, Bobby said, “Webhead, what are you thinking? We’re on the same side!”

“What are you talking about?” Spider-Man called out to Bobby, but the X-Man realized that that voice did not come from the costumed man who was standing in front of him. Instead, it came from the guy, wearing the same exact suit, who was trying to hold back the cages containing Nightcrawler and Firestar, hoping not to electrocute himself.

“Holy cow!” Iceman exclaimed when he realized that there were two Spider-men. “Unless I have double vision, we have a shapeshifter down here!”

Archangel had been thinking about it now for days. He was a superhero now, but his only power was flying and being able to heal quicker than most. There was something missing. Warren studied what heroes had been in the media recently. A flying man clad in red, white, and blue who wielded a similarly colored shield, a powerful woman with a hammer, etc. The rookie costumed adventurer and billionaire thought he might finally be on to something. What he needed was a weapon, however no branch of Worthington Industries was into weapons manufacturing. Archangel couldn't just use some weapon of the street or bought at a comic book convention, he needed something more original than that with a tad more power...

"Lucy..?" Warren asked from behind his desk in his top floor office, pressing a button on his phone.

An attractive woman walked through the doors. Lucy had been his secretary since he took over. Warren gave her the position after seeing his father mistreat her his last few weeks in the boss' office. She was always good at her job, but she was never given proper credit. Originally she worked a couple floors down as one of the many employees working in the filing office.

"What can I do for you, Mr. Worthington?" she replied with a smile and big blue eyes from behind her glasses.

"You can start by calling me Warren. Mr. Worthington was my father and this is no longer his office..." Warren responded, clad in his business suit and custom coat made for concealing his wings.

"Yes sir, no problem Warren. You need me to go get lunch, a coffee..?" Lucy asked.

"I need you to put in a call to Stark Tech...." Warren said to the point, "It's time I met Howard Stark's son..."

Later, at Stark Technologies...

Sighing as he stepped out of the transporter, Tony Stark held the small cup of soda and bag of In and Out Burgers. Having gotten a detour to LA on his way back to Stark Tech. "Hey thanks for the ride man." Tony called back to the pilot who from his seat held up a soda cup to Tony. "No problem, thanks for lunch Mr. Stark!" The pilot called back as the transporter began to take off. Leaving Tony on the helipad to walk back in. Immediately noticing the clean up crew did a magnificent job. All the destroyed things having been removed and cleaned away leaving an office and reception area that, while fairly empty now, were clean and tidy.

"Tony!" The sudden exclamation from the door leading into the reception area caught Tony off guard as suddenly Pepper Potts came running in, clinching Tony in a friendly bear hug. "You okay now? You look a lot better than I last saw you." Pepper noted seeing Tony's now perfectly fine looking arm.

"Whoa hey be careful Pepper I already got attacked today!" Tony joked smiling at seeing Pepper again. As much as her prodding him could get on his nerves sometimes, he was never going to say he never didn't like seeing her. "Yeah I'm fine, Victoria healed it completely. But..." Tony quickly realized something. "I gave you guys the go ahead to head home early today, why are you still here?"

Pepper let go of Tony, collapsing onto Tony's still fine office chair. "I got too distracted helping with the clean up to think about it, plus I don't think I would've been able to even if I had wanted. Rhodes was the same but he just left a moment ago when his wife wanted him too." Pepper told Stark thinking back how she took the time to pick up all of Tony's now retired Iron Man suit. "Plus I was worried about you..." She glanced over and saw Tony's soda and bag of fast food. "Wait you went to In and Out and didn't get ME anything?!"

"Why would I? I thought you existed through sheer perkiness and driving me insane." Tony joked, pausing for Pepper's reaction before tossing her the bag. "Kidding, here I got you a double double and fries. Turns out SHIELD's ships are really good at going from one end of the country to another." Tony remarked.

"Oh man you're the best!" Pepper didn't need long to start digging into the bag of food. "Oh also, I have either good or bad news depending on how you want to look at it... but..."

"Good evening Mister Stark, I'm Warren Worthington the third." the blond 20-something said as he entered the office, "I think it's time the head of Worthington Industries met the CEO of Stark Tech..." he continued, putting his hand out for a shake.

~KL~ / DrewVonAwesome

Hawkeye’s Sky-Cycle zoomed through the skyline of New York City, tracking down where whatever those insane AIM scientists had created had last been located. From S.H.I.E.L.D. intelligence, this “purple man” seemed to have headed towards Thomas Technologies. What he (or it) wanted with that company was anyone’s best guess. While the other S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives were grilling the AIM scientists whom S.H.I.E.L.D. had managed to capture, Hawkeye and Mockingbird were sent ahead of any other deployment forces in order to scout out the threat level that this “purple man” was displaying.

Once the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had finally arrived at the New York headquarters for Thomas Technologies, they saw that there was already a hole punctured into the side of the building, no doubt where the AIM experiment had broken his way into the facility.

“Well, Director Fury will be glad to know that we don’t have to create an entrance into this place.” Hawkeye joked with the blonde agent who was seated behind him on the Sky-Cycle. However, the only response that Hawkeye received from that comment was a light slap on the back of the head as Mockingbird tried to get his mind focused on the serious task at hand.

“Alright, alright! You don’t have to hit me! That’s the bad guy’s job!” Although he cracked a grin on this face, Hawkeye quickly accelerated his floating vehicle towards the opening in the side of the Thomas Technologies headquarters before Mockingbird could hit him again.

Now that the Sky-Cycle was positioned right beside the makeshift entrance, Hawkeye pulled out a specialized arrow form his quiver that would act like grappling hook and notched it into his bow. Drawing the bowstring all the way back to his chin, the purple archer took aim at a nearby structural column. In a matter of seconds, the arrowhead had drilled itself into the sturdy column. Attached to the arrow was a zip line that would allow the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to descend down to the floor in a safe manner.

Hawkeye descended down first in order to make sure that the coast was clear. Better that only one person would fall into a trap instead of the both of them. Otherwise, Mockingbird would not be in position to rescue Hawkeye or signal for reinforcements. When Hawkeye signaled up to Mockingbird that it was safe to come down, she slid down the zip line and loaded next to the purple archer.

“It seems quiet. Too quiet for a building that has been invaded by whatever those beekeeper scientists cooked up in their lab.” Hawkeye would soon regret those words, since as soon as those words left his mouth, an explosion burst through one of the wall on the far side of the large room that Hawkeye and Mockingbird had found themselves in. Through the newly created hole in the wall, a man dressed entirely in black was thrown out towards the center of the room. Although he did not land anywhere near where Hawkeye and Mockingbird were standing, he still traveled quite a distance. Then, the one responsible for throwing the dark-clad man walked through the opening in the wall.

“Base. We have located the target. It looks like that our purple ‘Dr. Manhattan’ is fighting…” Hawkeye paused for a second to get a better look of the combatant who has been fighting with their target. “Um, looks like he’s fighting a Batman wannabe. What are our orders?”

Bruce sat in the small diner, a cup of coffee (Decaf) cupped between his hands. He wasn't really drinking it, not really. He was letting the heat from the coffee fill his hands in a bid to try and heat himself up. He'd have to remember next time he ran from someone and stole clothes he'd need to steal something warmer. Maybe a nice warm fluffy jacket instead of a run down hoody. He chuckled to himself slightly, this wasn't exactly the kind of look he would have expected himself to have a year ago. He must look like some form of addict, rugged, shivering and clutching onto this cup as if for dear life. He lifted it to his lips, sipping only the smallest amount of liquid letting it linger in his mouth for a moment. He didn't know what it was about the bitter taste but he had always enjoyed it, maybe that was just part of being a scientist.

Decaf however... it seemed pointless. The only reason he was drinking it was to try and get rid of the craving he was having for coffee and he didn't exactly feel safe having ordinary coffee. He hadn't had any since the accident and there was no real telling what would happen if caffine entered his system. It could cause a reaction, it might not. He wasn't really willing to take the risk. There was a ding from the bell on the door and he put his cup down slowly, turning his head slightly to see who entered the door. When he saw it was just some random tourists he let go of a breath he didn't realize he was holding. Being on the run like this would never give him the chance he needed to find out what happened and how to reverse it, the stress itself would end up killing him.

The problem right now was he needed a base, somewhere to go where he could conduct his research. Now there were plenty of places he could go to be secluded the problem was there weren't many with the equipment he needed where he wouldn't be recognized or apprehended for tresspassing. Not to mention the only person he could probably trust was still in the hospital from the day of the accident. Well, there was that Loki character. However he was a bit of an unknown variable and he wasn't really willing to label that relationship with trust yet. Maybe he isn't immediately trying to harm me. Still, the whole unknown part made him pretty hard to get in contact with to figure out where he stood.

He sighed as he took another sip from his mug, at least things had went quiet. He had time to think, which was better than nothing.

Tony Stark watched on as Warren Worthington took his exit, both with a smile as the deal was secure and leaving the young CEOs feeling confident about the results. “Man, Hell of a nice guy. I have to say...” Tony noted to Pepper who had given Tony his seat at his desk back for the deal. Which Tony leaned back on comfortably. “Not to mention, now that he's gone. I mean I'm not gay or anything... but that guy... I would do.” Tony told Pepper as she chuckled at his frank nature.

“I mean... can't say I would say no either...” Pepper noted.

Tony frowned quickly. “I mean maybe that hair is kind of glam rock-y.” He noted thinking about it. “Still I have to say I don't get why you thought he'd be bad to meet Pepper, seemed like a nice guy.” Tony didn't realize with his back to the entrance to his still in repair office that the real problem was coming in.

“Well... I didn't realize Mr. Worthington was coming in, I actually meant...”

“IF IT ISN'T THE BESTEST CEO EVER!”

Tony paused slowly turning to the entrance, sighing and quietly shaking his head. “Okay I think I get it now.” Tony noted.

“Oh don't be like that Tony!” Will “Willy” Lumpkins, Tony Starks' PR agent. The young British man with blond hair was good at his job admittedly. Tony though always felt like the guy... bless his heart... tries WAY TOO HARD. It can get on his nerves sometimes. Still though Willy clearly had an idea and Tony was going to give him a listen.

Willy finally glanced around the office and reception room, and realized something was going on. “Wait Tony, you remodeling?”

Tony paused. “Yes, a nice Goddess lady wanted to rework my office using my face as a paintbrush, now whats going on?”

Willy paused confused at what Tony said but moved on. “Well. I have something that might be of interest...” He told Tony putting a copy of the morning newspaper at his desk.

Reed could only let out a sheepish grin when the SHIELD agents found him and Sue sleeping together when they were suppose to be in separate rooms. Though in actuality it seemed like Coulson was more impressed of the how Reed did it, than angry about Reed breaking the order in the first place. Still the orders were still that the four needed to get physicals from SHIELD's doctors to make sure they're okay to go back into normal society.

As the four were escorted to the medical bay Reed couldn't help but notice the quiet and frankly shoulders drooped Ben as he tagged along. Reed didn't ask but he knew Ben had come down from the high of all the action in Vegas. Now realizing whatever this thing was he had turned into might just be who he is now. Reed felt bad for him, but at the moment he wasn't sure if he should say anything at the moment. Not to mention he didn't know what to say in the first place.

The physical for Reed at least went well. A lot of notes were taken, and nothing that really felt violating occurred. So far Reed didn't really get much of a sense of SHIELD caging them up or making them some kind of prisoners. Heck they were offered breakfast even though Reed wasn't hungry personally.

Finally after his tests were done Reed was led over to a waiting room where he took a seat. Watching Ben trudge in slowly a little while after. Reed watched his friend clearly struggling as Reed squirmed in his seat a little. "So... you alright?" Reed started, not sure what else to say.

"Yeah, feeling like a million fucking bucks Reed." Ben quietly replied, the sarcasm oozing out of Ben's now nonexistent lips as he went to take his own seat. Only for the chair to immediately buckle under the weight and collapse leaving Ben hitting the ground and sighing frustrated.

Johnny woke up in his quarters. He figured Reed and Sue would get caught, as he walked out to see what was going on. "Nice one, Reed!" He said, laughing. It was very, very funny. If only dad saw these two right now. It would've been hilarious.

Johnny's physical went fine. Besides the fact, that he sorta ignited into flames as he felt a little violated. They had to shoot him with the fire extinguisher, twice. He wondered how he'd control the power. Seriously, he needs to figure it out and out very fast before he catches a SHIELD agent on fire, then he'd be really toasted. Hah, toasted. Johnny noticed how Ben was doing, Ben did not look happy at all. Reed look concerned, and Sue, well he can never read Sue.

After the tests were done, (Very hectic tests for Johnny.) the four were offered breakfast, He practically inhaled his food, he was super hungry. Probably since he hadn't really ate much in Vegas. There wasn't much to do around here, but the SHIELD agents were very friendly. Funny, one of them was a pretty hot woman. He hitted on her, to get nearly tased by her. Good job, Hot Head. Aaah, he liked it here.

He walked over to Reed, "So when do we get to leave?" Johnny asked, but then he noticed how Ben was looking and Reed was trying to comfort him, so he backed off. He didn't want to get on the orange rock's bad side. Honestly, he thought the Hulk was cool, so being something like the Hulk was actually kind of cooler.

Reed glanced up, seeing Johnny before him. His hand holding his head up at his chin. "Uh shouldn't be much longer, that Coulson guy said they're just processing the results right now." Reed noted before adjusting his glasses a bit. "It sounded like we should be good." As Reed mentioned it though it made him remember Harvey. Outside of maybe Ben Reed knew that life could go on for them. Harvey though, he couldn't even come up with a theory if Harvey even has control anymore of himself. Most importantly could Harvey even be saved? It rang in his mind if he could fix what happened to any of them. Especially not even still being sure what happened to them in the first place.

Johnny looked at Reed, "Don't tell me you're thinking all this is your fault again." Johnny sat down next to Ben and Reed. "Reed, have you thought, that maybe...I don't know, fate did this to us, not you?" Johnny gave him a reassuring smile. He seriously didn't think it was Reed's fault. Reed was only trying to make a break through in Science. Johnny patted the nerd on the back. "And honestly, I think these powers are pretty cool." Johnny thought they could be real heroes, like the Justice League. But, knowing Reed. He'll probably won't agree to this, and try to cure them. Well, Johnny will see what happens. “Seriously though like if we got this going for us we'll need codenames right? Like uh... Elastic Guy... uh Invisible Girl, oh Human Torch for me! Ben can be uh... a thing?”

Sue awoke calmly in Reed's arms that morning and thought she was going to be in big trouble with Coulson who found them in the same cell. Alas, she was wrong and a sigh of relief escaped her lips as she was merely escorted to her physicals. That in itself was quite the challenge for the SHIELD doctors. As they tried to put a needle in her arm to take some blood, she wen nervous and turned invisible. They didn't know where to inject! She came back into view after a few moments and they proceeded once again and before they could inject the needle she turned invisible again.

"Come on Miss Storm try to control your emotions." The doctor stated as she took a deep breath. She returned to her physical form once more. And then she looked up at the doorway, she saw a woman standing there.

"Don't be afraid." Came her comforting and angelic voice. Sue blinked her eyes at the long haired brunette and stared at her because she had wings sprouted from her back. Her presence was calming and even Sue noticed her beauty. Sue was looking at the Valkyrie, whom smiled gently at the younger blonde girl and then slowly turned away as the doctors were able to continue their work with a calmer Sue Storm as their patient. "Who...was that?" She inquired as her mind was too pre-occupied with curiosity to be nervous anymore.

"That was Agent Parrington. The Valkyrie." The doctor replied and Sue nodded with awe. "She's...really something." She stated with a much calmer demeanor. If she could be half as strong as the infamous Valkyrie, then she would do her best to try. For Harvey's sake, for Reed's, Ben's and Johnny's. She smiled then, looking up to the SHIELD operative with hope. Valkyrie knew more than anyone what it was like to feel like a freak upon the discovery of one's power. She sensed Sue's inner turmoil and merely passed by on her way from parting ways with Tony Stark. Regrettably passing Loki on the way - she could have been angrier but Sue managed to distract her by needing her comfort.

Sue emerged from the physician's room last, seeing the other three had gathered. The real fun began when they tried X-raying her and the rays were bouncing off her body when invisible. So they figured it out that light particles were bending around her when in that state, rendering her unseen to the human naked eye. But could she be seen by other entities, aliens or the magically imbued. Such as the likes of Loki and Valkyrie? That remains unanswered for now, she was just glad to be out of there. She walked up to her brother who seemed in high spirits. She placed a hand on her hip. "You've given us names already?" She seemed put out not really sure if she liked her new nickname.

"Harvey is out there somewhere suffering, Ben doesn't even know what he turns into and you're here giving us stupid names? Honestly Johnny...there is a time and a place little brother." She sighed, still worried about her friend. It wasn't that she was mad at Johnny. She was just incredibly stressed out by all of this, she made a conscious effort to not argue or bicker with Johnny now they were older. She was struggling to understand how the mutation even happened. It just didn't make any sense in her scientific brain. Perhaps Reed would be the best of them to figure out what went wrong, maybe he could figure out a way to reverse it. She turned to 'Elastic Guy' finally with worry. "Any news about him?" She tilted her head slightly, her blonde long locks shifting slightly over her right shoulder and the ends curling up slightly. "I know you still feel guilty, but you have to put that behind you now and look forward, not back." She was good at giving advice and comfort to others sometimes, too. She placed a caring hand on Reed's shoulder. "I've just met the Valkyrie. She was amazing. She was able to calm me down just by smiling at me." But something about her seemed so...lonely to Sue. How she used to look when pining for Reed before they confessed their feelings, she'd seen that look too many times in the mirror. "If SHIELD create people like her...then there is definitively hope for us five." Harvey especially so.

As Reed glanced up at Johnny and his... active imagination for superhero aliases. It probably didn't help his situation with Susan that the very first thought out of Reed's head on the idea, which he asked aloud, was "Wouldn't it be less condescending for Susan to be Invisible Woman instead of Girl?"

"Reed!" Susan piped in.

"WH-I mean no Johnny we can't be thinking that yet, there's a lot more important matters to figure out first." Reed pointed out, his original thought before Susan's alias was something he wondered about. Looking like he was about to sweat bullets from inuring Susan's wraith. With her newfound powers who knows what she could do to him and his stretchy self.

"Yeah, so cram it matchstick." Ben grunted to Johnny as he glanced up for a moment.

"Not to interrupt this conversation, but I have good news." Turning to look over Reed saw Agent Coulson holding a small pile of manila envelopes. "The physicals came in clean, so the four of you are free to go."

As soon as Johnny heard that they could go. "YEEEAAAH!" He fist pumped the air, yet his fist ignited into flames. Yeah, crap, he forgot about how his emotions work with his powers. "Flame off, Flame off!" The flame stopped, and he sighed in relief, then noticed how he just embarrassed himself in front of everyone. Yikes.

He was pretty happy about this, he was getting more bored the minute being in a base. But now they could go!

Reed raised an eyebrow about it. "So you're not going to hold us any further?"

"Even if we wanted too, we have guidelines. The only way we could if the four of you volunteered to do so. However based on your files I can't say the four of you strike me as SHIELD material."

Reed ignored the not so subtle dig. Folding his arms quietly.

"Regardless we have a transporter craft ready to bring the four of you and your father back to the Baxter Building." Coulson told them. He told the four with a steady tone as Reed stood up from his head.

"Sir, before we get too far ahead of ourselves. What about Harvey? What's his condition?" Reed asked, a slight worry in his voice.

"We have him in a secure base, subdued but conscious. We've been trying to figure out a way to possibly revert his condition, if its even possible."

Reed paused, "Well I'm willing to do whatever SHIELD wants me too to help with that."

Coulson smiled, pulling out of his coat a small vile containing something red. "We were hoping you'd say so. This is a sample of his blood. If you need something else or to see him in person don't be afraid to ask."

After getting the blood sample, Reed rejoined the four, with Dr. Storm in his wheelchair having also been cleared medically, all got into the transporter to fly back to New York City. There wasn't much talked about since the trip was fairly short. Reed was still marveled by the craft, and his mind started to spark something of an idea. When they got to the helipad though Reed quickly had his thoughts interrupted in a way he wasn't expecting.

Awaiting them were two people, one of whom was very immediately recognizable. Anthony Stark, CEO of Stark Tech. The other guy, a blond haired man in shades, button up shirt, and jeans. Didn't look nearly as familiar to Reed but regardless the young man was all smiles. "There's the heroes of the day! How are the great heroes doing?" The young man quickly reached out and shook Reed's hand, though before he could let go, the young man pulled on Reed's arm watching it pull out like taffy. "Wow its even cooler in person! You guys sure are some..."

"Will shut up will ya?" Tony told the eager young man as he finally let go of Reed's hand.

"Sorry, just a bit eager to be meeting the four of you is all." Will noted backing away a little.

Tony shook his head, "Reed, good meeting you again." Tony reached out and this time Reed was a bit more eager to shake his hand.

Ben glanced between the two as they shook hands, and his own issues were temporarily gone. "Wait Reed you know Tony Stark?" He asked, genuinely shocked by the idea.

"Well yeah... we'll talk about it later but... Tony what are you doing here? And who's this guy?" Reed asked gesturing to Will. Who quickly reached into his shirt pocket, pulling out business cards for him and the others. "Will Lumpkins, PR agent for Mr. Stark and well... I happen to have a business proposition for the four of you."

"The Hell you do pal!" Mr. Storm called out from the craft as Reed held a hand up to him.

"Hold on, lets at least hear him out first." Reed politely said to Mr. Storm.

Then two guys walked up to the four, one was Tony Stark, the other was a guy another blonde. The blonde pulled on Reed's arm like it was plastic. This would be pretty interesting. Apparently, the blonde guy was named Will Lumpkins? Hah!

"A job?" Johnny asked. Knowing his father, of course he would try to step in. Reed got his dad to chill out, fortunately. The job probably had to do with the use of their super powers. Johnny thought about, they did need the money. "What's the job about?" He asked.

The four along with Susan and Johnny's father all went into Dr. Storm's meeting room where they all sat at various chairs, Will stayed up at the end of the table where a white erase board was. Ben sat on the floor to not likely break one of the office chairs. Tony sat near the front while Reed was sitting across from him. "Alright so, basically the four of you are already known, and shown that you each have a heroic side. It's cool, people need guys and gals like the four of you to look up too. With all these superheroes coming out of the woodwork, like Mr. Stark here..."

"Will?" Tony piped in with.

"Yeah?"

"Shut up, I don't pay extra for brown nosing." Tony's basic stating while his arms were folded said everything.

Will looked a bit embarrassed and awkward for a moment before coughing. "Right, well what I was going to suggest is this could be a great time to get in on things. Alright picture this... the four of you... a publicly known superhero team!" Will paused for what he was expecting was uproarious celebrating for his idea, only it got a brief awkward quiet.

Reed coughed a bit to kill the silence. "Uh... its a thought." He noted giving it admittedly more thought than he knew he should.

"Here's the thing though." Tony piped in with. "The group can be a non-profit organization given current tax laws, meaning that while your tax reports would become public knowledge you guys could also stand to make a nice profit. Play off of being celebrities, do genuine good for the people. Will can be a bit... 'special'... with his thought process but I do think this is the ground work for something special. Heck its why I'm here." Tony stood up himself. "Stark Tech, if you guys take this idea seriously, would be happy to sponsor you. I wouldn't ask you guys to wear the company logo on you or anything stupid like that. But work with you guys and help out however we can. Even if it means bringing in the Iron Man project if need be." Tony brought it up, though deep down he was still debating things, but given business doesn't work on maybes he just kept the idea going it was still a thing.

"It would help implement a steady income for the four of you, plus if you need equipment if Starktech doesn't make it, I know someone who does. Plus your success will help rub off on us more so." Tony sold his point to the idea so much more effortlessly than Will did, which even impressed the PR person.

"Besides Reed..." Stark glanced over at Reed and folded his arms a bit. "Given what's happened, you do kind of owe me one."

Reed paused thinking about the point Stark raised. The notable reaction made Reed realize he stuck out like a sore thumb.

Susan Storm sat back in her chair with arms folded. "With all due respect Mister...Pumpkins."

"Lumpkins."

"Lumpkins.." (How was that any better, she thought?) "I don't want to parade around acting like heroes, and meet celebrities. That's not what we're about and why we were given these gifts."

"It may be a gift to you Susie Q..." Ben sighed across the table and Sue shot him a sympathetic glance. And even though her brother Johnny would absolutely love the chance to shower in the limelight, she had morals. "I want to help people but I just don't want the fame that comes with it. And nor would poor Ben by the sounds of it either." She was stubborn and adamant on this, taking a disliking to the publicity. "I have no problem working with Stark Tech and becoming a superhero team. You may enjoy parading around in the Iron Man suit and lapping up attention. But I'm not like that."

Sue then glanced between Reed and Tony. "Reed...?" She leaned over the table toward Reed with a suspicious tone and narrowing of her eyes. "What did he mean...'OWE him one'?" Acting like the girlfriend status already, not liking secrets or not being told anything Reed was doing or had been involved with.

Reed listened to Susan's quite reasonable counter arguments about them becoming celebrities and superheroes and such. Periodically Reed glanced over at Ben, though quickly looking away out of sheer guilt, and sometimes Johnny, watching him practically boiling over with the idea of becoming famous silently.

Suddenly though Susan's attention was right on him. In a way Reed had almost never seen before.

As Susan leaned in on him Reed's grin only got more and more awkward and he could only lean back harder and harder against his seat until he was almost paper flat against it. Finally he popped out letting out a weird chuckle which he quickly stopped, coughing. “Uh... okay so...” Reed began. “You remember how a few months ago you and me were up in our attic and found all of my dad's stuff? Earlier that day... I was at Stark Tech and had signed a contract to join on as a creative consultant. But well... I wanted to work on this, and um...” Reed stretched a hand over, which gently grasped the back of Susan's own. “I wanted to be around you more. So I backed out of the contract.”

“To give you an idea how well that went over with the legal department.” Tony Stark piped in with. “They were advising legal action against Reed. However considering his family's legacy I felt like I would've just been a terrible person. So I went against that, and I figured Reed could make it up to me sometime in the near future, IE today.” Tony noted, as Reed glanced over and realized that now, Susan's dad was glaring a hole through him quietly. Reed glanced away, wondering if his new elastic powers would save him from getting killed horribly.

“Now as much though, not to interrupt Mr. Stark...” Willy piped in with. “But in regards to the idea of not being celebrities. While I can respect, albeit it confusingly, the idea. It might not be possible.” With that Willy pulled out a newspaper and tossed it onto the table, which showed a large color image on the front of the battle in Las Vegas the night before. “The news has already identified all four of you, and even that the monster was your friend Harvey. That was how me and Mr. Stark even knew to come see you guys today. So while we certainly COULD try to hide your identities for a superhero project. It wouldn't work very well.”

“Not to mention I think you're looking at it the wrong way Ms. Storm.” Stark hopped in with seem less skill. “You're seeing the idea of a celebrity from the Kim Kardashian crazy attention whore status kind of way. While sure, I'm certainly guilty of that, its more because of how it brings attention to my company and its products. People just want to see me do that sort of thing, when I do charity events, or donate plenty of money to causes. People tend to ignore it. Not to toot my own horn or anything. Point is being a celebrity gives you guys a chance to do even more good beyond saving people and beat bad people up. You guys might not be able to even escape this celebrity status, but you can use it for something special. I mean have you guys seen the entrance of the Baxter Building since last night?”

As Stark brought it up, Reed stretched his head over, glancing down the window which faced the entrance of the Baxter Building. Sure enough the crowd was quite notable and took up a fairly large chunk of the street in front of the building. “Whoa...” Was all Reed could say.

“Thank God this building has two helipads, I don't even want to think what getting in here through the main entrance would've been like.” Stark noted aloud.

Johnny whistled at the sight that Reed was gawking at. He totally thought the four could become awesome heroes, and being famous!? That would be hella cool!

"So, Reed how do you feel about this, man? I have the superhero nicknames ready.." He said, with a wide grin. "We're gonna be heroes, or we're gonna be losers with superpowers?"

This might be fun, if they do it.

Man, he hopes that Reed says yes.

Well, Johnny could be a superhero by himself if they say no. He'd be awesome!

He could be....what was that nickname he made up earlier? Oh yeah, HUMAN TORCH!

Reed frowned a bit at Johnny's question, since he felt like Susan's younger brother could maybe could use better wording for the idea. "I mean... I don't think we'd be 'losers' if we don't decide this." Reed noted as Johnny was right next to him. Still Reed scratched his chin at the thought. On top of having Tony Stark's support, there was a lot to gain from it too, both money wise and status wise. Still Reed never considered himself the kind of guy who could be a celebrity. Then again, if Bill Nye and Neil Degrasse Tyson could do it....

"Well Mr. Stark, I think we need to agree to this if we're going to do it. So I think we'll need a bit to decide and I'll contact you personally." Reed noted to him, as Tony nodded.

"Sure I figure as much..." As Tony Stark shrugged his smart phone went off. He checked it and raised an eyebrow to it with a slight look of worry to it. "Here I need to head back to work anyways. Let me know what you guys decide." As Tony put his phone back into his pocket he started to leave until he noticed Willy was still there. "Willy come on..."

"But I wanna help!" Willy whined.

"They need some privacy..." Tony sternly reminded him. Willy frowned as he left with Tony.

Reed watched them leave before taking a deep breath. "Well personally I do think the idea could work. If we have superpowers this could be a good way to use them. Personally I say we should do it."

"You're just wanting to suck up to Stark aren't you?" Ben asked in a pretty mean spirited fashion. He was still fuming about how he was this... whatever the hell he is. Hearing the others talking about their powers as if it was some neat experience that would be fun and sunshine.

"Well... no. I mean I might go ahead and provide him my services regardless of what you guys want to do. But I mean it... I mean I don't know about any of you but I got into science for the same reason my parents did. I wanted to use it as a way to make the world a better place. So... maybe what I've done up until now hasn't quite gone to plan. I still think now with these powers..." He stretched his limbs and torso out a bit standing up before going back. "I could use them to make the world a better place. So if I have to do something maybe a bit avant-garde to accomplish it, then so be it. But what I would really want out of it is for all of you to be there with me. Everyone here has something special they can bring to the table, and I'm not just referring to your powers. Sue, I want to spend as much time with you as humanly possible." He reached out again, gently holding her hand in his. "Johnny, you could if nothing else be our voice for the public... as potentially dangerous as that idea is thinking about it." After gesturing to Johnny he looked back at Ben. "Ben, I don't know what I can do to promise you that will make you feel better about whats happened to you. But I still know what you've done for me and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to help you."

Ben glanced up to Reed, "You'll help find a way to get me back to normal?"

Reed smirked, giving Ben a nod. "I promise."

As Sue listened to Reed's speech about how they could make the world a better place by using their powers, she could not agree more. I mean, what if they were given these powers for a REASON? Sure celebrity status was a given side effect of their heroic actions. They would lose pretty much all of their privacy, however, she could lead by example. Empower women all over the world, inspire children to do the right thing, show people what it meant to have a moral code and a sense of justice. She sighed heavily and finally nodded as Reed took her hand. She gave him her beautiful smile. "Alright then, Reed. I'm with you. But if we end up doing commercials for branded products, I am out of here." She jested with a playful smirk.

Dr Storm rose from his seat then, infuriated at seeing Reed and Sue in a romantic capacity. "The hell I will have MY daughter running around with a reckless, and too ambitious for his own good scientist, who almost got her killed!" He obviously did not approve. Sue sharply turned her head toward him, her long blonde locks furrowed out and her eyes became evidently angry as she took up her free hand to point at her father directly. "Dad! You don't have a say in who I do or do not associate with. You lost that right when you neglected me and Johnny for your work, leaving ME to look after him when I was only a child myself! I lost my childhood thanks to you, so I will damn well do whatever I like." She finally let it rip on her father, all of that pent up anger and frustration toward him. All the while holding Reed's hand to show a united front. "Besides YOU were the one who funded the operation that changed us. So you cannot blame anyone without taking some of the blame yourself...."

Dr Storm calmed himself then. "Wow Sue you...remind me so much of your mother now. I forget how wise you've become..." He glanced everyone in the room. "You're right. I funded it. It went wrong and here we are. I was not changed, and so - it's up to you all what you decide to do and whom you associate. Just remember...with great power comes great responsibility. And that means even more for you Reed, should you wish to be with my daughter. You had better do right by her, I'll be watching."

"Yeah, you and half the globe. Think abut it guys, you ain't gonna get no privacy." Ben reminded both Sue and Reed that their personal lives were also in the limelight. Nothing beats good gossip like a superhero couple. Sue gave Reed a worried look. "I know...but it's a chance I'm willing to take." She smiled and squeezed his hand a little.

Reed smiled warmly as Sue's hand grasped his. Even chuckling a little at her ad joke, “Hey I wouldn't mind it if you did one of those ads where you dress all seductively and eat a cheeseburger!” Reed said, clearly kidding.

That though defiantly got Mr. Storm's ire. He stood up and yelled at them which made Reed both frightened but mad. He loved Susan and he knew she didn't need his permission to date him. However before Reed could finish opening his mouth to retort Susan was already on the warpath. Reed's eyes popped open but he clinched her hand a bit harder as he was amazed at her passion, impressed with her boldness, and scared that it'll all be launched at him if he messes up with her. Still she got Mr. Storm to relax a bit. Which helped Reed breathe a bit. “Don't worry, I'd never dream of hurting her Mr. Storm...” Reed stated looking in Sue's eyes.

Ben's words though did help Reed remember what they were talking about as Sue's beautiful blue eyes left him absentminded for a moment. “Uh well right, if we're going to do this we need to figure out names and all that right?” Reed asked aloud shrugging, “Johnny had some codename ideas we could do. I like Human Torch, since it was the original code name for the android project in the 1940's. Sue I think Invisible Woman is perfect for you. Ben... I mean we can come up with something better than Thing if you want.”

Ben waved it off as he sat on the floor. “Don't sweat it, I'm sure I'll be called worse.” Reed didn't like that Ben wasn't super happy with the name by the looks of things. But he knew Ben would have time to change it before things became too complicated. “As for me...”

Reed started thinking about a code name, and the idea of being a superhero in general. Suddenly Reed started to chuckle a little to himself. “You know... okay its nothing but... I remember when I was little. I actually had a superhero alter ego. Like I would use science to solve problems and fight crime.”

Surprisingly Ben chuckled at Reed's memory. “Ya I actually remember you telling me about that. Wasn't the name you had Mr. Fantastic?”

“Hey yeah!” Reed suddenly felt his brain in motion. He strolled over to the white board, and happened to take a blue marker as he started drawing. First making a circle, and in the circle a middle, where the number 4 took up most of its space. “What about, the Fantastic Four?”

Ben grinned. “So we're just going to name the whole team around YOUR name?”

Reed playfully shrugged, “Why not? I'm sure as heck am not going to call myself Elastic Guy. Plus how does that not sound great... OH!”

Suddenly Reed was bolting out of the room, leaving everyone awkwardly looking at one another before coming back with a small folded square of cloth. “If we're going to do this we'll need suits right? Okay check this out. I made it one night after tinkering with some of Sue's cosplay fabrics. I don't really have a name for it so I just call it 'unstable molecules' since that's what I used for its basis. But importantly its super elastic...” Reed stretched his arms out long, tugging the black fabric out all the way with no issues. “Its flame proof, it should work with Sue's powers. This stuff would be perfect!” Placing the fabric on the table Mr. Storm carefully picked it up. “Wow, this stuff is amazing. If you put a patent on this we could make a lot of money from it alone.” Even Reed raised his eyebrows at the realization. “I didn't even think about that.” Reed noted surprised.

Ben smiled a bit glancing around. “Man even I'm getting into this idea!”

Johnny was surprised when Sue went off on their dad. He thought she was, well a good two shoes. Then again, she had the right to yell at their dad. He left them alone, just so he could tend to his research. To be honest, Johnny never had the guts to snap at their dad like that, even though he has wanted too, many, many, MANY, times.

"Whoa..." Johnny smirked. Then looked at Reed. "You made this stuff? And they can deal with our power?...Hah, sweet.."

Johnny snapped his fingers, a flame appeared over his thumb. "I told you the superhero names were cool." He then snapped his fingers, again and it went away.

Johnny loved this. The four were gonna become superheroes. It was going to be awesome! Even Ben liked the idea! Johnny's hand then sparked in flames.

"WHOA!!" He forgot that his emotions controlled his powers as well. "Flame off! Flame off!" In an instant, his hand was not on fire anymore. Johnny sighed in relief.

"I need to work on my powers...pronto..."

Sue grimaced a bit watching Johnny's powers not under control, picturing the entire Baxter Building burning as Johnny awkwardly broke the news to everyone with that sheepish grin and shrugged shoulders. “Yeah... could you please?” She asked Johnny.

Still though she was mesmerized by her boyfriend's newest work. Her own mind started churning seeing the logo and the potential with the name. Suddenly she had an idea. “Hey, I think I got an idea for the costumes. Reed can you get me some more of this stuff in black? I'll also need blue and white.”

Reed smiled as he nodded to Susan. Seeing everyone's faces lit up at this serious idea and what it would mean for them. Sure Reed still felt bad about what had happened, and was still going too until Harvey was cured. This though, this was something special. He knew it, and he sure as hell was going to make it work.

If for nothing else than for Sue, Ben, and Johnny, if only for them.

"Doctor Geoffrey Crawfords audio log.

My condition is getting worse, I now need a cane in order to assist me when moving around the hospital and as such have taken a leave of absence. The hospital believes it is so that I can get my affairs in order though it's really so that I can find a cure. With the acceleration of my condition I'm going to have to speed up my plans to compensate, within days I'll likely lose all mobility in my legs and not long after that all motor control will be lost to me. I believe more than ever that the blood of Doctor Banner, A.K.A the Hulk is the key to saving me. While there are other serums that already exist they are near impossible to replicate, with the sample of blood I now possess I feel with certainty that with my expertise I could fashion a cure.

Just think how much good that could come to the world from something so monstrous! Maybe once I have cured myself I can even fashion a cure for Doctor Banner himself. Though one step at a time, first I need to save my own life.

Crawford put the recording device back down on the table, walking with his cane over to the makeshift laboratory in his spare room he sat down in the chair on front of the microscope. It was clear that adrenaline was the key to the reaction in bringing out the regenerative abilities of the Hulk, and as such all the nasty side effects. Such as apparent complete loss in cognitive ability and all sense of self. He didn't want the Hulk, he wanted the healing power that came with it. Finding a way to separate the two from one another would prove complicated. Though he was sure he'd manage to do it. After all his very life was on the line.

---

Bruce had heard the news, the Nuclear Explosion out in the woods. The subsequent S.H.I.E.L.D intervention, apparently the people who had taken the Hulk had then went on to regret the decision. Once and for all. The thought of all that natural beauty having to be abandoned due to radiation tugged at his heart. If only he hadn't been the Hulk he could have worked with the authorities to try and contain the radiation in the area, he was the leading expert after all. He was starting to question if this whole thing had been worth it, yes he had saved a life in the very same accident that had caused him to become the Hulk. Though at what cost? How many more had died, and would continue to die due to that decision? He'd have to end it, and when he ended it he'd have to do it quickly to ensure that there was no way Hulk could fight back against it. He had always wanted to be a force for good in this world, and he had destroyed so much and so many peoples lives.

It had to end, he had to end it.

With a heart heavier than it had ever been in his life he stood up, placing money on the counter of the diner he was in before walking out of the door and to the nearby payphone. The number was burned into his head, how could it not be? He just sighed and waited as the phone rang, silently praying that there wouldn't be an answer. He wanted to just leave a message on the answer phone, he didn't want to put her in this situation. Not by a long shot.

Then he heard the click and cursed himself. "Hello, Betty Ross speaking." His words caught in his throat, just hearing her voice, they say the first thing you forget about someone is their voice. Though he knew that wasn't true, it was just as sweet as he remembered it being. "Hello? Is anyone there?" He couldn't do it. He couldn't tell her, she wouldn't want to speak to him anyway after what had happened. How could she?

"Hello? I can hear you breathing. Who's there?"

He couldn't say everything he wanted to say, but he could at least say something. He could never make amends for what he had done, he'd be paying for it for the rest of this life and whatever life came next. Clearing his throat he spoke, each word strained as if it had to be forced from his lips. "I'm sorry Betty-" A lone tear streaked down round his cheek, dropping to the ground. "-I'm so, so sorry."

"Bruce, is that y-" He let go of the phone, gravity claiming it until the cord pulled tight. He didn't bother to hang it up, he could still hear her pleading into the phone but he couldn't stomach anymore. It was selfish to call her, but he had to do it before he prevented himself from causing anymore catastrophes. He stalked out of the phone booth into the crisp cool air pulling his hood above his head and facing the ground as the tears began to flow.

This was for the best.

It would seem that her response had satisfied the fellow superhero, as before long the two had taken to the skies and were beginning their flight towards wherever the Avenger’s headquarters was. As they moved through the air, Hyperion spoke, continuing to explain to America what was going on. They were heading to the Triskellion, where Hyperion here was meant to test the newfound team. The thought confused America slightly. Honestly she couldn’t see the point of being tested on their teamwork so early. She didn’t even know who the team would even comprise of. Other than Hyperion and Falcon… no Captain America, she couldn’t for the life of her give the names of any other heroes that were on this Earth. Maybe that Hawkeye chico that Hyperion spoke of was to be part of the team? She thought on what he had said about the guy. The best marksman in the world? That title was surely Avengers worthy. The guy also seemed to use a bow, so that at least gave him a unique flare. If America hadn’t just watched Kate wield such a weapon to such a high standard, she would have laughed at the idea, but now it didn’t really seem so strange.

Still, this Hawkeye wouldn’t even be attending this little test, so America still had no idea what to expect. She decided not to worry about it, since maybe that was the whole point; to see how she would react to being suddenly thrust in an unknown situation.

Focusing on her flying, America realized that she had been subconsciously increasing it speed, much like Hyperion in front of her. It didn’t take a genius to see that he was testing her. Testing to see how fast she could go. What she was capable of. These guys really took Avenger’s tryouts seriously! Not wishing to show off, she continued to follow suit; gradually increasing her over time. She was surprised to find that the two of them kept getting faster. America had expected him to reach his peak speed sometime around now, but he just kept going. This led to her frowning slightly once a building appeared in the distance. It would seem that they wouldn’t end up finding out who was faster today. Obviously she was going to be the winner though.

The two soon descended outside of the Triskellion, America looking around excitably as they did so. She was keen to see this new team. To catch a single glance at another of this Earth’s heroes. It was during this that she noticed the Quinjets that had been following them touching down a few metres away. Out from the back came all of the agents that had entered the penthouse; with both Quentin and Kate taking up the rear. While Kate was still too teary eyed to notice her, the mutant telepath could her eye. He gave her a crafty wink, before miming himself getting hanged with a noose. Obviously Quentin’s views on S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn’t changed.

Turning her attention away from her new friends, America found herself having to quickly catch up with Hyperion who had swiftly made his way through the front entrance. They passed a towering statue as they did so. Captain America. The original one anyway. It would seem that he had existed on this Earth after all. Shame they never found him. Maybe they hadn’t ended up searching…

Again, America realized that she would need to stay close to Hyperion due to the labyrinth of corridors that lay ahead of them. She tried to follow swift, staring intently at every agent that passed as she did so. Before long, the duo arrived at a set of doors. This was it. The caped hero moved towards a keypad, typing in a series of numbers, while America waited beside him, shifting impatiently on her feet. She tried to remain calm, however inside she was a sack of nerves. This was the big league. As tough as she knew that she was, most of the guys inside this room would probably be tougher. More powerful. Superheroes.

As the door slid open, she took a deep breath. She stepped inside. In front of her was her new team. She frowned. This hadn’t been what she had expected. Before she could express her opinion however, Hyperion spoke from behind her, announcing that it was time to begin. At once the room was illuminated by a bright red light, as two beams of energy shot from the man’s eyes. What’s more, they were heading directly for her. The beams hit her hard, sending his flying backwards across the room, her falling body tearing into the floor.

Groaning, she lifted herself up from the small crater which she had creating. This was certainly going to be interesting.